For fifty years, powerful states kept dangerous technology behind a lock and rationed access as leverage. This week showed that reflex failing on three fronts at once — and what is replacing it.
President Trump said the agreement to help Saudi Arabia build civilian nuclear power will proceed only if Riyadh normalises relations with Israel. In one sentence, an energy pact became a lever on the Middle East's biggest unfinished deal.
The United States is preparing to sign a nuclear cooperation agreement that would allow Saudi Arabia to enrich uranium on its own soil. Secretary of State Marco Rubio insists it won't fuel proliferation. Israel and non-proliferation experts are not reassured — and the deal lands while a Gulf war is under way.
The US-Iran exchange has entered its tenth consecutive night as Houthis threaten Saudi shipping, yet mediators are pushing a 10-day ceasefire — the first concrete offramp in a widening Gulf war.
Yemen's Houthi movement announced an immediate maritime embargo on Saudi Arabia in retaliation for a Saudi blockade of Yemeni ports and airports, per the BBC. The declaration raises the threat to shipping across the Red Sea and the Gulf.