U.S., Mexican Officials Hold High-Level Talks on Drug Trade, Arms, Migration

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is leading a high-level delegation (NYT) to Mexico City today to discuss the potential for bilateral and regional cooperation to address the smuggling of drugs and arms into the United States, as well as northward migration. The talks are particularly focused on preventing fentanyl trafficking. Washington has urged Mexico to crack down on labs where the synthetic opioid is produced.

Meanwhile, the foreign ministers of Colombia and Panama will participate (AP) in the migration portion of the meeting. The Joe Biden administration has in recent months aimed to move migrant processing stations for northbound asylum seekers farther south, away from the southern U.S. border. Yesterday, Biden used an executive action (AP) to allow for the expansion of a border wall in southern Texas.

Analysis

“Geopolitics, however, complicate already difficult domestic and foreign policymaking against dangerous drugs,” CFR expert David P. Fidler writes for Think Global Health. “In that suboptimal scenario, improving domestic policies perhaps offer more promise than foreign policy does.”

“The likely record number of asylum seekers and other migrants entering the United States after being apprehended at the southern border is placing an unprecedented financial strain on states and cities nationwide, even as local governments continue to recover from the economic toll resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic,” the Migration Policy Institute’s Muzaffar Chishti, Julia Gelatt, and Colleen Putzel-Kavanaugh write.

Pacific Rim

Japan to Buy U.S. Cruise Missiles a Year Earlier Than Planned

Japan’s defense minister said yesterday that the country will start procuring Tomahawk missiles (Kyodo) in fiscal year 2025 in response to the worsening security environment in Asia.

CFR expert Sheila A. Smith discusses how Japan is doubling down on its military power.

Taiwan/China: By the end of this year, Taiwan will announce a list of critical technologies (Nikkei) that “need to be protected” from China, the secretary-general of Taiwan’s National Security Council said. The new policy will cover industries including aerospace, agriculture, and semiconductors.

South and Central Asia

Russia Delivers Fuel for Bangladesh’s First Nuclear Power Plant

Bangladesh received the first batch of uranium fuel (Anadolu Agency) to power its Rooppur nuclear power plant today, becoming the world’s thirty-third country to use uranium for nuclear energy production.

India: Authorities’ arrest of opposition politician Sanjay Singh on suspicion of money laundering prompted plans by his party (Hindustan Times) to protest today outside the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party’s headquarters in New Delhi.

Middle East and North Africa

Iranian Girl in Coma After Reported Encounter With Morality Police

Sixteen-year-old Armita Garawand is in a coma after activists said the country’s morality police beat her on a subway (Al-Monitor) for failing to properly wear her hijab. The case has prompted comparisons to the September 2022 death of Mahsa Amini, which sparked widespread anti-government protests.

This In Brief by CFR’s Kali Robinson explains the role of morality police in Iran and other countries.

Turkey/Syria: Turkish drone strikes in a Kurdish-controlled area of northeast Syria killed at least eight people today, an unnamed security source told Reuters. Turkey said yesterday that it would consider Kurdish militant facilities in Syria to be valid targets. The statement followed a weekend bombing in Turkey’s capital, Ankara, that Turkish authorities concluded was carried out by attackers from Syria.

Sub-Saharan Africa

Kenya Replaces Foreign Minister After Approval of Haiti Security Mission

President William Ruto replaced (AP) his foreign and trade ministers in a cabinet reshuffle yesterday. Former Foreign Minister Alfred Mutua had preempted Ruto’s statement on a Kenya-led security mission to Haiti that was approved Monday by the UN Security Council.

Ethiopia: A UN-backed probe into human rights abuses committed during Ethiopia’s Tigray war will close at the end of the month (The Guardian) after a deadline passed yesterday to renew it.

Europe

Pope Warns of ‘Point of No Return,’ Updates 2015 Document on Climate Change

In a major address yesterday, Pope Frances called on (AP) world leaders and wealthy countries to commit to binding climate targets. He updated a 2015 ecclesiastical document about the importance of climate action and warned the world is approaching a “point of no return.”

This episode of the Why It Matters podcast discusses the power of the pope.

Austria/Slovakia: Austria joined the Czech Republic and Poland in introducing coordinated immigration checks (FT) on the border with Slovakia over concerns of increasing undocumented migration. The move suspends the terms of the border-free Schengen Area inside the Eurozone.

Americas

Bolivian Ruling Party Expels President as Potential Return of Predecessor Looms

The expulsion of current President Luis Arce and other officials from the Movement for Socialism party is part of a feud (The Guardian) with former President Evo Morales for control of the party. Morales plans to run in the 2025 presidential election.

United States

U.S. Announces Transfer of Weapons and Ammunition Seized From Iran to Ukraine

The U.S. military’s Central Command announced yesterday that it sent more than one million rounds (NYT) of ammunition seized from Iran to Ukrainian forces, while an unnamed Defense Department official said the United States also plans to send Ukraine seized Iranian weapons.

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