What Caught My Eye (no. 27)
Some interesting articles and podcasts that caught my eye this week
Here’s this week’s edition of articles I thought worth reading and sharing. Don’t hesitate to recommend your own reads; I may include some as well.
Rogé Karma, So, About Those Big Trade Deals, The Atlantic, August 8, 2025. A staff writer assesses trump’s big trade deals and suggests there is much less than meets the eye, particularly when it comes to the billions of new investments Trump has trumpeted (sorry!).
Marcus Walker, Ian Lovett, and Ievgeniia Sivorka, Ukraine’s Once Nimble Army Is Mired in Soviet Decision-Making, Wall Street Journal, August 12, 2025. A penetrating look at the evolution of the Ukrainian army, which was once nimble and agile but is increasingly mimicking the Soviet machine of old — with lesser results.
Missy Ryan, Jonathan Lemire, Nancy A. Youssef, and Michael Scherer, The Tiny White House Club Making Major National-Security Decisions, The Atlantic, August 15, 2025. An A-class team of reporters take a deep look at how the White House is run when it comes to national security decision making. Spoiler alert: It’s not being run in any way any previous administration has.
Daniel Flatley and Erik Schatzker, Bessent on Tariffs, Deficits and Embracing Trump’s Economic Plan, Bloomberg, August 11, 2025. An interview with the man who has president Trump’s ear and on whose hopes much of the economic and investment world rests. Treasury Secretary Bessent gives a full-throated defense of the administration’s unorthodox economic policies.
Greg Ip, The U.S. Marches Toward State Capitalism With American Characteristics, Wall Street Journal, August 11, 2025. The journal’s chief economic commentator argues that the Trump administration is pursuing a new form of state capitalism (maybe called it capitalist socialism?) by interfering in the market and taking stakes in American businesses.
Andrew Higgins, Putin Sees Ukraine Through a Lens of Grievance Over Lost Glory, August 16, 2025. Putin talks about the “root causes” of the war in Ukraine. The Times’s East Europe chief unpacks what Putin really means by that — a return to past glory, before the Soviet Union was disbanded and much of central and Eastern Europe was still under Moscow’s control.
Finally, in case you missed it here are links to some of the things I did and wrote this week.
I spent much of the week reflecting and commenting on the Alaska Summit between Presidents Putin and Trump on Friday.
On Monday, I spoke to Bianna Golodryga on CNN’s Amanpour warning that the pressure was all on Ukraine, not on Russia, to deliver.
On Wednesday, I joined Angela Stent, Rosa Brooks, and David Rothkopf on Deep State Radio podcast to discuss expectations for the summit, and CBS News.
On Friday, I did more than a dozen interviews, including on CNN News Central, NBC News Meet The Press, MSNBC Chris Jennings Reports, Fox News Business The Clayman Countdown, and Bloomberg TV’s Balance of Power.
On Saturday, I joined MSNBC’s Weekend with Alex Witt and CTV News.
I also hosted two World Review LIVE broadcasts on Substack, one on Friday with Catherine Philp and Felicia Schwartz before the meeting and one on Saturday with Susan Glasser.
I wrote about how the outcome of the Summit was a wake up call for Europe on America Abroad.
Finally, I devoted my entire weekly World Review post to an assessment of the summit and what comes next.
Happy reading, watching, and listening!