Namibia For more images from #Namibia, check out demetrisevastopulo.com/Namib…

I have fought the neocons and warmongers in Washington for more than 25 years. Throughout, they have tried to silence, discredit, slander, and cancel me. Only recently, however, have they tried to deport me. At least, that appears to have been the aim of a hit piece in Bari Weiss’s The Free Press, which claimed that Marco Rubio’s State Department was “investigating” me for allegedly seeking to “undermine the U.S.”—presumably because of my opposition to war with Iran. Yet just hours later, the State Department issued a statement to reporters clarifying that “the State Department has no plans to revoke the green card of Mr. Parsi at this time.” Nor did it provide any confirmation for the central premise of the Free Press story—that an investigation of me existed in the first place. So here’s what I think happened. Read the full piece on my Substack: tritaparsi.substack.com/p/so…

I had a good discussion with KMT Chair Cheng Li-wun today. I’m a strong advocate for the US-Taiwan relationship, regardless of politics in Taiwan. But, as I told her, we need KMT to join with the DPP to finish the defense budget and support the Alaska LNG project.

Washington sky this evening Follow me on Instagram.com/asialens.demet… or check out demetrisevastopulo.com

Ask most policymakers in Southeast Asia about the impact of a Taiwan crisis & the response is the equivalent of sticking their fingers in their ears and shouting "I can't hear you". But this report from @IISS_org shows the likely consequences for Malaysia iiss.org/research-paper/2026…

I asked Barak Ravid if he's become the boy who cries “Iran deal.” “I am covering the news, okay?” he said. “The boy doesn’t cry ‘Iran deal.’ The boy says the guys who are working on the Iran deal are crying ‘Iran deal.’” My latest. puck.news/barak-ravids-direc…

Keir Starmer weakened by John Healey’s scathing resignation ft.com/content/ad03c4ee-f47b… via @ft

Taiwan and the US share a clear interest: keeping the world's most advanced chips out of PLA hands. Currently, a gap in the rules lets Chinese firms reach them through shell companies. Our thanks to @SenatorBanks and @SenatorAndyKim for their bipartisan call to close the loophole. taiwannews.com.tw/news/63804…

I am sure the former CEO of Norinco will have some enlightened solutions to the imbalance issue

What’s it like to be a Young Leader at the IISS Shangri-La Dialogue? Some of those who took part in this year’s IISS Shangri-La Dialogue Young Leaders' Programme share their personal experiences and substantive takeaways after four busy days of networking and discussion #SLDYoungLeaders #IISS_SLD26 | Find out more: go.iiss.org/SLDYLP26

In an episode of The Impossible State, @VictorDCha, @TheEdwardHowell, and @sydseiler discuss North Korea's relationships with the CRINK countries and implications for global security. Listen: csis.org/podcasts/impossible…

Taiwan’s Representative to the U.S. Alexander Yui expresses confidence the U.S. will ultimately approve planned $14 billion arms sale: “It’s up to President Trump to decide. Once the review is done, we expect that the sale, that the announcement will be made because we need those arms to defend ourselves better.” @TECRO_USA

UK defence secretary resigns over spending plan ft.com/content/e294734a-67db… via @ft

Tune in today at 1.35pm EST 👇

A few thoughts on Healey's departure. At the end of the day, the root cause is a failed defence review process. The review proposed things on the basis that spending would rise to 2.5% of GDP by 2027, a relatively modest pace of growth that was & is incompatible with everything the UK wants to do—GCAP, AUKUS, a strategic reserve corps for NATO on land, carrier strike & more munitions/readiness. The gov't was unwilling either to make choices among these, which would have been politically and diplomatically painful, or to spend *significantly* more in the short & medium term, instead pointing to non-credible commitments out into the mid-2030s. There was and is no credible path to the 3.5% of GDP target by 2035 that the PM publicly agreed at the Hague last year. Now the UK is going to go into the Ankara summit in a weak position, with a teetering government, and with a likely successor to Starmer who is no more likely to support higher defence spending, all with predictable consequences for the US-UK relationship.

FT Exclusive: France, Germany and other European nations are discussing proposals for a radical overhaul of the EU’s 15-year-old diplomatic service, including stripping powers from the bloc’s chief diplomat. ft.trib.al/Hskd8cT

BREAKING: JOHN HEALEY RESIGNS AS DEFENCE SECRETARY

KMT head Cheng Li-wun to @AsiaLens in New York: “Taiwan can never become or be reduced to a pawn traded away at a negotiating table by great powers…A lot of Taiwanese people are very concerned, hoping that Taiwan will not become the next Ukraine.” ft.com/content/4f667f6f-efd0…