Good morning, and welcome to the Global Situation Report for Tuesday, 01 October 2024.
- Global Rollup
- Israel claims limited ground forces entered Lebanon for raids. Lebanese media reports that Israel is ordering 29 southern Lebanese towns to evacuate north of the Awali River. The Awali is about 19 miles north of the UN buffer zone established at the Litani River.
- India’s leadership has signaled a deteriorated situation along the India-China border. The External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar described the situation as very significant. India’s Army Chief General Upendra Dwivedi said that until the border is restored to pre-2020 conditions, the army will remain “fully operationally prepared to face any kind of contingency… Trust has become the biggest casualty.” (If China believes India is likely to support or participate in a war, this likely deters a forceful reunification of Taiwan. – J.V.)
- China’s People’s Liberation Army Navy used a laser to deter a Philippine government aircraft flying over the South China Sea. The aircraft was observing a government resupply mission.
- South Korea stood up a new Strategic Command to coordinate with the U.S. Strategic Command for combined operations that include the potential use of U.S. nuclear weapons alongside South Korean conventional strategic weapons.
- Australia, Japan, New Zealand, and South Korea will attend their first NATO “defense ministerial” later this month, according to NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte.
- Mark Rutte officially took the NATO Secretary-General’s office today and laid out several objectives for his tenure. He intends to increase NATO-Indo-Pacific cooperation, expand NATO’s capabilities and manpower, and get all NATO members above the 2% minimum. Rutte supports Ukrainian strikes into Russia and claims there is no imminent threat of Russian nuclear weapon use despite the doctrine update.
- Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told Russian media that “We must prepare for a long-term confrontation with [the United States]. We are ready for this in every sense,” and “We are sending all the warning signals to our opponent so that it does not underestimate our determination.”
THAT’S A WRAP: This does it for today’s edition. Thank you for reading. If you know folks who would also like to receive this email, would you please forward it to them? We appreciate you spreading the word. – M.S.