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Global Watch Weekly Briefing

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Last week’s Global Watch briefings traced the acceleration of a post-institutional world order, where power is increasingly exercised through ad hoc coalitions, economic coercion, and infrastructure warfare. The Trump administration’s “Board of Peace” for Gaza symbolized Washington’s pivot from UN-centered diplomacy toward transactional multilateralism, monetizing mediation while sidelining traditional allies. Europe’s resistance over Greenland and Arctic sovereignty underscored a widening transatlantic trust deficit, even as trade threats replaced consensus-building.

Meanwhile, the Russia-Ukraine war entered a harsher phase of coercive leverage, with systematic strikes on energy grids transforming winter itself into a strategic weapon. Parallel diplomatic overtures in Davos and Abu Dhabi revealed exhaustion without resolution—talks advancing even as battlefield pressure intensified.

Across Asia, technology and supply chains emerged as geopolitical fault lines. Nepal’s distancing from Huawei, China’s rare-earth export controls on Japan, and U.S.-Taiwan security-economic convergence highlighted the securitization of digital infrastructure and critical minerals.

Economically, “agri-geopolitics” and tariff-driven fragmentation signaled that markets are no longer neutral spaces but instruments of state power. Collectively, the week’s developments point toward a volatile era defined by personalized diplomacy, weaponized interdependence, and the steady erosion of multilateral norms.

Here are top ten mos important news article which defined the world during last week:

The United States launched a new Trump-led peace and reconstruction body for Gaza outside UN structures, but major European allies declined participation, raising concerns over legitimacy and deepening transatlantic diplomatic rifts.

https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/world/2026/01/501_364982.html

For the first time since the Ukraine war began, delegations from Washington, Kyiv and Moscow met for direct trilateral negotiations, focusing on territorial disputes and potential ceasefire frameworks amid continued battlefield escalation.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jan/23/us-ukraine-russia-delegations-abu-dhabi-talks

Russian forces carried out widespread drone and missile attacks on Ukraine’s power grid, crippling electricity supplies during winter and reinforcing Moscow’s strategy of using civilian hardship as diplomatic leverage.
https://english.nv.ua/russian-war/ukraine-hits-russian-oil-terminal-radar-sites-in-crimea-and-donbas-in-precision-overnight-strikes-50577734.html

President Trump escalated pressure on Europe by threatening sweeping tariffs linked to Greenland’s strategic future, signaling a shift toward coercive trade diplomacy to achieve territorial and security goals.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jan/20/trump-greenland-tariffs-nobel-snub

European leaders publicly backed Denmark’s sovereignty over Greenland, emphasizing Arctic security cooperation and resisting growing U.S. pressure over control of the strategically vital territory.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jan/23/eu-support-denmark-greenland-us-tensions

Nepal scrapped a multi-billion-rupee Huawei-linked project, reflecting rising U.S. and Indian pressure to exclude Chinese firms from core digital infrastructure and reshape regional technology alignment.
https://kathmandupost.com/money/2026/01/19/nepal-telecom-cancels-rs5-billion-billing-system-bid-ousts-huawei

Beijing imposed new restrictions on sensitive exports to Japan, warning against remilitarization and raising fears that rare earths and strategic materials are becoming tools of geopolitical coercion.
https://english.news.cn/20260120/ac827cb6058b4c84a43178eb8ca412a6/c.html

Washington’s updated National Defense Strategy named China as the primary long-term challenger while signaling reduced commitments elsewhere, unsettling allies across Europe and East Asia.

https://www.ft.com/content/a0153971-1e92-4ff8-b603-e393e7b6c93f

Despite a fragile ceasefire, humanitarian conditions in Gaza continued to deteriorate, with infrastructure in ruins and reports of infant deaths underscoring the failure of aid and reconstruction efforts.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/01/19/gaza-ceasefire-humanitarian-crisis-updates

Berlin moved to rapidly merge civilian industrial capacity with military production, highlighting Europe’s urgent push for strategic autonomy as U.S. security guarantees grow increasingly uncertain.

https://whattheythink.com/news/116495-germany-ramps-up-defense-industrial-base-heidelberg-site/

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