Indo-Pacific

• About $61 billion of this aid package will be spent on Ukraine, while $26 billion will go to Israel.
• The new legislation means that U.S. military supplies could be moved to Ukraine in a matter of days.
• Pressure increased on lawmakers to pass the aid package after Iran’s drone missile attack on Israel on April 14, 2024.
• The U.S. has been the largest single donor backing Ukraine since Russian troops invaded the country in February 2022.
• As a scholar of Eastern Europe, I think there are a few important reasons why the U.S. has a lot at stake in supporting Ukraine.

Republicans divided over Ukraine aid

• Since February 2024, Johnson had delayed initiating a vote on the Ukraine foreign aid bill in the House of Representatives for a few reasons.
• One major factor was fighting between Republicans, who hold a slim majority in the House.
• While some centrist Republican politicians supported Ukraine funding and pushed for a vote on the foreign aid package, others – hard-right Republicans – wanted a bill that prioritized what they said are American interests, meaning more of a focus on domestic U.S. problems.

Delays on Ukraine benefit Putin

• As the House was stalling on a vote, Ukraine was rationing ammunition and supplies.
• Delays with foreign aid to Ukraine give Putin time to move forward with plans to purchase ballistic missiles from Iran.
• Without foreign aid from the U.S., Ukraine faces a strategic disadvantage that could lead to Russia winning the war.

The US needs Europe to compete with China

• One factor is U.S. global power competition with China.
• Russian and Chinese leaders declared a military and political partnership days before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
• They announced on April 9, 2024, that they want to find ways to strengthen their joint security work across Asia and Europe.
• U.S. political and military leaders have noted that supporting Ukraine and pushing back against Russia is one clear way to deter China from strengthening its global political power and military reach.
• The U.S. needs its long-standing allies in Europe to help push back against China – and deterrence is only as effective as the size of the force doing the deterring.

Foreign aid benefits US arms industry

• Most of America’s military aid to Ukraine consists of arms and ammunition from existing U.S. stockpiles.
• More than one-third of the $61 billion spending includes $23 billion dedicated to replenishing weapons and ammunition systems for the U.S. military.
• In December 2023, Biden signed a U.S. defense policy bill that authorizes a record-high $886 billion in spending from July 2023 through June 2024.
• But it also allows for the purchasing of new ships, aircraft and other types of ammunition.

Americans continue to support Ukraine aid

A majority of Americans still favor U.S. support of Ukraine, though about half of Republicans said in December 2023 that the U.S. is giving too much money to the country. Even though politicians do not always follow public opinion, there are clear reasons why it is in the U.S.’s best interests to keep funding Ukraine. This story is an update of an earlier article published on April 10, 2023.
Tatsiana Kulakevich does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

• US president, Joe Biden, and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jingping, talked on the phone this week for the first time since meeting in November.
• While the call signals both sides’ interest in stabilising their relationship, it also underscores the significant international, and national challenges, that Beijing and Washington face.
• Xi and Biden are believed to have covered Taiwan, the possible US TikTok ban, tariffs and Chinese support for Russia, in the 105 minute call.
• This phone call builds on the agreement between the two presidents at their face-to-face meeting in San Francisco last November to keep channels of communication open.

Flashpoint Taiwan

• There is no obvious change in Washington’s Taiwan policy, but neither is there in the importance that Beijing attaches to the issue.
• The US also sees Japan and the Philipines as regional allies, who may play a part in the volatile security situation in the Taiwan Strait and the Indo-Pacific more broadly.

Common international ground?

• North Korea’s increasing belligerence is clearly a concern for the US and its allies in Asia.
• This does not by any means indicate a convergence of interests between Washington and Beijing, but it signals that there is a bargaining space in which the two powers could find enough common ground between them to manage crises through existing international institutions like the United Nations.
• Yet, there are likely limits to a more cooperative approach by Beijing and Washington to international security.
• For the foreseeable future, this means that Beijing and Washington will, at best, be able to approach their shared, but not wholly overlapping interests in international security, by managing instability.

Stefan Wolff is a past recipient of grant funding from the Natural Environment Research Council of the UK, the United States Institute of Peace, the Economic and Social Research Council of the UK, the British Academy, the NATO Science for Peace Programme, the EU Framework Programmes 6 and 7 and Horizon 2020, as well as the EU's Jean Monnet Programme. He is a Trustee and Honorary Treasurer of the Political Studies Association of the UK and a Senior Research Fellow at the Foreign Policy Centre in London.

• NEWPORT NEWS, Va., Jan. 22, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Shipbuilder and all-domain technologies provider HII (NYSE: HII) hosted United Kingdom Minister of State (Indo-Pacific) Anne-Marie Trevelyan at its Newport News Shipbuilding division today.
• The visit was held in support of the trilateral Australia, United Kingdom and United States (AUKUS) partnership.
• Trevelyan met with HII and NNS leadership and saw facilities that support construction of Virginia-class nuclear-powered attack submarines.
• Additionally, she participated in a tour of the Newport News Shipbuilding Apprentice School that focused on HII’s workforce development expertise.

• This phase II contract reflects HawkEye 360's continued work with the Indo-Pacific Partnership for Maritime Domain Awareness (IPMDA), which was endorsed by leaders of the Quad nations—Australia, India, Japan, and the United States.
• HawkEye 360 has served as a commercial partner to the IPMDA program since late 2022.
• The sheer size of these waters, coupled with endless vessel activity, demands vigilant maritime observation," said Alex Fox, Chief Growth Officer for HawkEye 360.
• For more information on the HawkEye 360 satellite constellation, please visit https://www.he360.com/ .