Author: Michael

A lot happens every day. Alliances shift, leaders change, and conflicts erupt. With In Brief, we’ll help you make sense of it all. Each week, experts will dig deep on a single issue happening in the world to help you better understand it. *** Last week, Germany and the United Kingdom signed what they called a “landmark defense treaty” to boost security, investment, and employment. Under the terms of the “Trinity House Agreement,” the countries agreed to cooperate on a range of defense initiatives, including joint missile development, drone production, and maritime security.

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What does conventional arms control mean for how wars end? Even the longest wars terminate, and many conflicts end with some kind of agreement, even if it is unconditional surrender. Yet the term unconditional surrender is, itself, misleading, although what differentiates surrendering from negotiating a surrender’s conditions may be a matter of degrees. Countries that surrender entirely are still surrendering with the understanding that conventional warfare will end: Cities will no longer be bombed, troops will no longer be shot at, and sieges will be lifted.

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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan had reasons to be pleased after his recent Balkan tour. Visiting Albania on Oct. 10, 2024, Erdoğan promised to donate an unspecified number of kamikaze drones to Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama, and the two leaders jointly opened the largest mosque in the Balkans. The next day, Erdoğan visited Belgrade, where he and his Serbian counterpart Aleksandar Vučić discussed military cooperation, including a likely drone program.  Ankara’s post–Cold War engagement with the Balkans, particularly Serbs and Albanians, has followed a twisting path.

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