No. 127 — Thursday, 25 June 2026 — 16 articles from 66 sources
The Daily Edition for Thursday, 25 June 2026 curates 16 analytical articles from 66 sources into today's key forces shaping the world. China and middle powers test US-China dominance. China's oil stockpile softened the Iran war shock. 5G's biggest hit was home broadband, not the apps it promised.
Our MethodWatchlist: US-Iran War: Trump Requests $87.6bn, NATO Tensions, Gulf Diplomacy, Venezuela Twin Earthquakes: State of Emergency, Buildings Collapse, NATO Summit Preparations: European Unity, Ukraine Support, Trump Friction, ICC Judges Sue Trump Administration Over Sanctions, Iran Nuclear Inspections: IAEA Access Dispute After Interim Deal
At a summit Trump cast as a "G-2 world" of two cooperating powers, the actual map shows neither one in control. Today opens there: hit hard by US and Chinese sanctions, middle powers are building ways to evade them, and allies are hedging toward alternatives. Beijing's new white paper claims to lead a reformed Global South, but the money to back that claim isn't there. From there we turn to oil, where China's pre-war crude buildup softened the Iran war shock for Asia even as the Hormuz closure pushed Southeast Asian governments back toward subsidies and coal. We close on 5G's quiet hit: fixed wireless now reaches over 14 million American homes, the home-broadband use nobody pitched in 2019. Plus briefs on Pakistan's rise as the Gulf's go-to broker and the Kremlin weighing a fresh mobilization wave. Start with the summit for the day's clearest throughline.
The Hoover Institution starts at the summit, where Trump declared a "G-2 world" of two cooperating hegemons. It then shows that aggressive US and Chinese sanctions push middle powers to build evasion infrastructure, eroding the very leverage the summit celebrated. The Carnegie Endowment ad
Heatmap News runs a transcript where the "Shift Key" hosts trace China's billion-plus barrels of visible crude inventories, built up before the war and read straight from supply-demand data. They argue this buffer helped prevent the $150-200 oil spike experts predicted. The Diplomat p
IEEE Spectrum asks why 5G's biggest hit was the one nobody pitched. The hype in 2019 promised mobile AR and self-driving cars. Instead, fixed wireless access now serves over 14 million U.S. homes and adds 9 million through India's Jio. IEEE Spectrum traces the cause to plain engineering ec
Hoover Institution · Think Tank · US · Right-Center — At the US-China summit, Trump declared a "G-2 world" run by two superpowers. The Hoover Institution lays out the numbers: a $31 trillion US economy, $950 billion in defense spending, more than the nex
Carnegie Endowment · Think Tank · US · Left-Center — Trump's "Board of Peace" has drawn 27 nations, most of them autocratic, while France refuses to join anything that might replace the UN. Carnegie tracks how longtime US allies are now hedging their be
Chatham House · Think Tank · UK · Least Biased — Last week, as wars in Gaza and Ukraine dominated headlines, Beijing quietly published a 45-page white paper on remaking global governance. Chatham House reads it as China's pivot from participant to a
Heatmap News · Research · Global — When the US struck Iran, energy experts warned oil could hit $150 or $200 a barrel. It didn't. On Heatmap's Shift Key, Robinson Meyer traces how China's stockpile of over a billion barrels cushioned t
The Diplomat · Newspaper · Asia · Least Biased — When the Iran War spiked oil prices, ASEAN's energy transition fractured: Indonesia and Malaysia poured cash into fuel subsidies while Thailand and Vietnam leaned harder into solar. With 55% of crude
IEEE Spectrum · Magazine · US · Least Biased — Remember the 5G hype? Self-driving cars, AR headsets, the internet of things. None of it arrived. Instead, fixed wireless quietly took off—now serving 14 million U.S. homes and 9 million on India's Ji
How Pakistan became the Gulf's most consequential diplomatic partner — Mail & Guardian · Newspaper · Africa · Left-Center
Beyond Brexit—and back to Europe — European Council on Foreign Relations · Think Tank · EU · Least Biased
‘Something could start as early as October’: Russian authorities are discussing a new wave of mobilization after the State Duma elections — Meduza · Newspaper · Russia (exile) · Left-Center
Orbán Is Gone, but His State Machine Remains — Social Europe · Newspaper · EU · Left-Center
AI Is Designing Radio Chips That Humans Couldn’t Even Imagine — IEEE Spectrum · Magazine · US · Least Biased
$102 Billion in Climate Finance Beyond the “Usual Suspects” Reveals a Growing Multipolar Reality — World Resources Institute · Research · Global · Left-Center
Designing Drones for Africa — War on the Rocks · Research · US · Least Biased
Bad company — Emerging Europe · Newspaper · EU