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The increasing risk of direct confrontation between Russia and NATO | GZERO World

The increasing risk of direct confrontation between Russia and NATO

Former US Ambassador to NATO, Ivo Daalder, joins Ian Bremmer on GZERO World to discuss Russia, NATO, and the countries caught in between. According to Daalder, Russia's invasion of Ukraine has brought the possibility of an armed conflict between two nuclear-armed powers higher than it has been since the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962. Relations have devolved to the point that Russia sees NATO as an enemy and vice versa. So, is a new Cold War heating up?

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US ships during an underway replenishment in the Philippine Sea. January 19, 2023.

U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Greg Johnson via ABACAPRESS.COM via Reuters Connect

Hard Numbers: US camps in Philippines, Malaysia may nix death penalty, Bulgaria’s close vote, Burkina Faso vs. journalists, hungry as a bear in Japan

4: On Monday, the Philippine government confirmed the location of four new military camps that will indefinitely host rotating US forces, despite China’s opposition. The new encampments, which were announced last February, place US forces closer to Taiwan and key trade routes in the South China Sea, where China has territorial disputes with its neighbors.

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Iraq War's legacy: Loss of lives, rise of ISIS, & political turmoil | GZERO World with Ian Bremmer

Iraq War's legacy: Loss of lives, rise of ISIS, & political turmoil

On the 20th anniversary of the US-led invasion of Iraq, US Senator Tammy Duckworth and NBC's Chief Foreign Correspondent Richard Engel sit down with Ian Bremmer on GZERO World to reflect on the legacy of a war that reshaped the Middle East and continues to reverberate around the world.

Senator Duckworth, a former helicopter pilot who lost both her legs in the Iraq War and now sits on the Senate Armed Services Committee. She emphasizes the importance of honoring the promises made to veterans and the impact it has military readiness. "The cost of going to war isn't just the tanks, the guns, the helicopters, and the ammunition during the period of actual conflict," Duckworth says, "The cost of war goes on for many decades."

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Ian Explains: Mistakes & mixed legacy of US “shock & awe” in Iraq | GZERO World

Ian Explains: 20 years since the Iraq War: Lessons learned, questions raised

The 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq, dubbed "Operation Iraqi Freedom," began 20 years ago. The Bush Administration told the world that Saddam Hussein was developing weapons of mass destruction and the war would last weeks, but none of that was true.

In fact, almost nothing in the Iraq War went as planned. The US wasn't prepared for a violent insurgency that lasted years, killing thousands of US troops and hundreds of thousands of civilians. And two decades from its start, the war still casts a long shadow––the rise of ISIS, a civil war, ongoing violence and political turmoil.

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Senator Tammy Duckworth discusses unfinished business in Iraq & the true cost of war | GZERO World

Senator Tammy Duckworth discusses unfinished business in Iraq & the true cost of war

US Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), a combat pilot who lost both her legs in Iraq, joins GZERO World to reflect on the 20th anniversary of the US-led invasion. In her conversation with Ian Bremmer, Duckworth says that the first thing people need to understand is that the "cost of war" goes on far longer than the period of actual conflict. She emphasizes the importance of “fulfilling promises made to veterans,” and says it's "non-negotiable."

While acknowledging the progress made in Iraq after Saddam Hussein was removed from power, Duckworth believes that the country "is somewhat unfinished business," and worries about high unemployment rates for young people, concerns about Iranian influence, and negative oversight of the Kurdistan region. She hopes Iraq can become “a friend and ally to the United States.”

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The cost of war: Senator Tammy Duckworth on what we owe veterans | GZERO World

The cost of war: Senator Tammy Duckworth on what we owe veterans

The true cost of war is a lot more than tanks, helicopters, and ammunition, according to US Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), who joins GZERO World to reflect on the 20th anniversary of the US-led invasion of Iraq. Duckworth was a helicopter pilot who lost both her legs in Iraq, one of thousands of veterans who returned home wounded, and intimately understands that the costs of war go far beyond the conflict ending.

Is the United States fulfilling its obligation to provide adequate services for its veterans? In a conversation with Ian Bremmer, Duckworth emphasizes “the obligation we have to our veterans” to live up to the promises we made to them. The United States made a deal with its veterans, she says, “to honor their service and sacrifices,” and it is “non-negotiable to break that promise.” Otherwise, how can we expect people to volunteer to serve?

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Let's Talk About the Balloon | Quick Take | GZERO Media

China's spy balloon chills relations with US

Ian Bremmer's Quick Take: Hi, everybody. Ian Bremmer here and I'm at Columbia University, just about to teach my class. I just got back to New York and a Quick Take to kick off your week.

Of course, what we're talking about right now is the balloon, which was made for television. I mean, you know, you get to watch on the map as it's traveling across the country and check the popularity ratings. Democrats, Republicans, what do you think about the balloon? The reality is this is not going to be talked about in another week, but it is inconvenient, the timing for a few different reasons. First of all, because you have the State of the Union coming up tomorrow. And as a consequence, President Biden is going to have to address it in a very public way, and therefore it puts more of a chill in US-China relations.

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U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin III at the military camp in Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines.

Reuters

What We're Watching: US military in the Philippines, Ecuadorian referendum, Israel's AG vs. Bibi, Ukraine shows EU anti-corruption love, China's snoop balloon

Don't buy hype about the US military in the Philippines to counter China

The Philippine decision to grant the US military access to four more military bases in the country has gotten a lot of buzz that it’s a major move against China. For sure, the archipelago is the closest US ally to Taiwan and the disputed South China Sea – Beijing claims sovereignty over both. But while Xi Jinping is surely not happy about America getting additional places in Southeast Asia to host its troops, the move is no game changer in US efforts to better patrol the region or — yikes — respond to an eventual Chinese attack on Taiwan. Why? For one thing, the US military only really needs to use two old American bases north of Manila because they are both very big and close enough to the action. What’s more, the other sites are either too small or still under construction. There is, however, an interesting domestic political angle. President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr., aware that most Filipinos have soured on China over its actions in the South China Sea, wants to show his people that he won't be as chummy with Xi as his predecessor, Rodrigo Duterte. At the same time, Bongbong also knows that the Philippine economy is so dependent on trade with China and that his military is so weak that he can't afford to push Beijing too hard. If he's not forced to pick a side, he'll continue to play both — taking a page from his dictator dad’s old playbook.
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