View this email in your browser Insights, analysis and must reads from CNN's Fareed Zakaria and the Global Public Square team, compiled by Global Briefing editor Chris Good   March 14, 2019 Trump's 'Nickel-and-Diming' At a time when the US is engaged in a geopolitical struggle against China, President Trump is sacrificing America's ability to wage it in favor of short-term economic demands, Minxin Pei writes at Project Syndicate. In withdrawing from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, threatening Europe and Japan with auto tariffs, and weighing whether to demand cost-plus-50% for US troop deployments, Trump has "displayed an utter lack of concern for its allies' economic interests," he writes—by "nickel-and-diming its allies, the US is effectively disarming itself" in a longer struggle with China. That's important because, as the US seeks to contain Chinese influence, the fight will play out on economic terrain, and it will be costly for some US allies to side against Chinese trade and investment. Trump's short-term asks, in other words, could make bigger ones more difficult down the line. When it comes to the strategic value of Trump's attitude toward troop-deployment costs, The Wall Street Journal agrees, writing that "[f]or decades a major strategic goal of authoritarian states like Russia and China has been to divide the U.S. from its allies. Mr. Trump shouldn't help them do it." Why Brexit Is Like the Great Depression Brexit has likely hurt business in the UK already, the Harvard Business Review reports, as a survey of executives revealed estimated drops in investment and employment, thanks to Brexit uncertainty. Brexit is unlike other historical "uncertainty shocks" like 9/11 and the Kennedy assassination, HBR's authors write, when markets regained confidence after initial dips, as they learned about what happened. With Brexit, "uncertainty has persisted" after the initial vote, amid continuing political deadlock and a yet-to-be-determined solution: "The clearest historical parallel that led to such an extended period of uncertainty is the Great Depression, which started with the stock market crash of 1929 and generated continued uncertainty until 1932," the authors surmise. A Backup Plan for Global Warming As the world struggles to mitigate greenhouse-gas emissions, a backup plan of sorts was floated at a UN conference this week: geoengineering, the process of altering the planet to slow its warming. The most prominent plan in this category involves spraying aerosols into the atmosphere to keep the earth from absorbing heat—an idea that has yet to be studied thoroughly and might entail risks, according to Smithsonian. Science suggests it could work, but The Economist notes the idea suffers from the same problems as greenhouse-gas reduction: It requires ongoing commitment and political consensus, both of which are hard to come by. "Geoengineering, the toolbox that a decade ago nobody wanted, could end up stuck in the same international procedures as efforts to tackle the root cause of global warming," the magazine writes. A Post-Syria Rebirth for al-Qaeda? While the world has focused on defeating ISIS, al-Qaeda may emerge from Syria's war with new momentum, writes Colin P. Clarke of the Foreign Policy Research Institute. Syria's war has been a "learning laboratory" for al-Qaeda to absorb lessons and refine tactics; it's also "expanded al-Qaeda's contacts, and, given the proliferation of jihadist groups worldwide – 67 active groups as of 2019 – there will be more opportunities for al-Qaeda to work with like-minded terrorists from North Africa to Southeast Asia," Clarke writes. It may be time for the West to recalibrate its approach to terrorism, as ISIS loses its territory and global jihad reaches a potential turning point. That's what David Gardner argues in the Financial Times: In 2014, ISIS was able to seize wide swaths of Syria and Iraq with fewer supporters than it has now, he writes, and we should anticipate what policies are helping and hurting before jihad sees another revival. For Russian Farmers, Sanctions Are a Gift Russian President Vladimir Putin faces a lagging economy and, with it, the risk of popular discontent. But thanks to Western sanctions over his invasion of Ukraine—and, more specifically, Russian countersanctions that targeted Western food imports—Russia's domestic agriculture is booming, Judy Twigg writes at The National Interest. The countersanctions have "put Russian farmers in the best shape they've ever been," she writes, reviving a sector that had collapsed in the 1990s, boosting Russia to become the world's top wheat exporter, and restoring some national pride in Russian agriculture. Share Tweet Fwd unsubscribe from this list update subscription preferences  Copyright © 2019 Cable News Network, Inc. A WarnerMedia Company., All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you subscribed to CNN newsletters. Our mailing address is: Cable News Network, Inc. A WarnerMedia Company. One CNN Center Atlanta, GA 30303 Add us to your address book What did you like about today's Global Briefing? What did we miss? 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