Think Tanks
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Ifo Institute: Business Climate in German Automotive Industry Somewhat Better
MUNICH, Germany, Jan. 10 -- ifo Institute issued the following news release:
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Business Climate in German Automotive Industry Somewhat Better
The Business Climate Index in Germany's automotive industry improved slightly in December 2025: The balance rose to -19.8 points, up from -20.2 points* in November. While companies assess their current business situation as worse, they are less pessimistic about the coming months. "One ray of hope is the development in electromobility," says ifo industry expert Anita WOlfl.
According to data from the German Federal Motor Transport Authority, almost
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MUNICH, Germany, Jan. 10 -- ifo Institute issued the following news release:
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Business Climate in German Automotive Industry Somewhat Better
The Business Climate Index in Germany's automotive industry improved slightly in December 2025: The balance rose to -19.8 points, up from -20.2 points* in November. While companies assess their current business situation as worse, they are less pessimistic about the coming months. "One ray of hope is the development in electromobility," says ifo industry expert Anita WOlfl.
According to data from the German Federal Motor Transport Authority, almost55,000 battery electric vehicles (BEV) were newly registered in Germany in December 2025. That's more than 22% of all new car registrations. As a result, the annual average for BEVs in 2025 reached a new high with a share of 19%. In addition, new BEV registrations grew almost continuously over the course of the year, while new registrations of gasoline- and diesel-powered cars fell steadily compared to the same month of the previous year. "Electromobility seems to have arrived in Germany," says WOlfl.
*Seasonally adjusted
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More Information
Survey (https://www.ifo.de/en/facts/2026-01-09/business-climate-german-automotive-industry-somewhat-better)
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Original text here: https://www.ifo.de/en/press-release/2026-01-09/business-climate-german-automotive-industry-somewhat-better
[Category: ThinkTank]
Empire Center: State Delays Disclosing Emails About $1B Home Health Contract
ALBANY, New York, Jan. 10 -- Empire Center, a non-profit think tank, issued the following commentary on Jan. 9, 2026:
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State Delays Disclosing Emails About $1B Home Health Contract
By Bill Hammond
For a third time the state Health Department has postponed releasing records related to a disputed $1 billion Medicaid contract, saying it needs another six weeks or more to locate and redact the materials in question.
The latest delay means the department's early communications with Public Partnerships Limited - which later won a statewide contract to operate the Medicaid's Consumer Directed
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ALBANY, New York, Jan. 10 -- Empire Center, a non-profit think tank, issued the following commentary on Jan. 9, 2026:
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State Delays Disclosing Emails About $1B Home Health Contract
By Bill Hammond
For a third time the state Health Department has postponed releasing records related to a disputed $1 billion Medicaid contract, saying it needs another six weeks or more to locate and redact the materials in question.
The latest delay means the department's early communications with Public Partnerships Limited - which later won a statewide contract to operate the Medicaid's Consumer DirectedPersonal Assistance Program - will remain unavailable to the public until Feb. 20 or beyond.
The records are expected to shed further light on why the state abruptly decided to consolidate the $11.9 billion program under a single statewide "fiscal intermediary" - and how PPL was chosen to handle that lucrative job.
The Empire Center requested the records on Sept. 8, shortly after the state Senate held a hearing on the much-disputed contract - including allegations that the department had effectively picked the winner in advance.
At the hearing, PPL official Patty Byrnes testified that there had been "no conversations" with state officials before bidding on the contract opened in July 2024. In a follow-up letter, however, the Byrnes acknowledged the company had communicated with the Health Department in March and April of that year, which was before the Legislature authorized the bidding process as part of the annual state budget.
To obtain copies of those communications, the Empire Center submitted requests under the Freedom of Information Law with both the Health Department and the governor's office.
Similar documents are also being sought by the Sens. James Skoufis and Gustavo Rivera, the organizers of the hearing last summer.
In December, the governor's office responded to the Empire Center's request by releasing a single email record - an April 4 invitation to an on-line meeting involving advisers to Governor Hochul as well as officials of the Health Department and PPL.
For its part, the Health Department initially said it could produce the records no sooner than Oct. 7. It has since pushed back that date to Nov. 21, Jan. 6 and, most recently, to Feb. 20 - which would be almost six months after the initial request.
The latest postponement, as with the earlier ones, leaves open the possibility of further delays:
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Please be advised [the Records Access Office] is unable to respond to your request by the date previously given to you. We are working diligently to identify or redact records responsive to your request.
The Records Access Office now expects to complete its process by February 20, 2026. The Department will notify you in writing when/if the responsive materials are available for release or if the time needed to complete your request extends beyond the above date.
Please note that the office is working through a significant backlog of FOIL requests and asks for your patience.
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The Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program, or CDPAP, is a form of home-based care for Medicaid recipients with disabilities. Patients in the program choose their own caregivers, who can be friends or family members, and Medicaid pays their wages. It has been one of the fastest-growing parts of the Medicaid budget, covering some 280,000 people at a cost of $11 billion as of 2024.
The state formerly employed hundreds of companies known a fiscal intermediaries to handle payroll processing and other CDPAP-related duties. In the name of cutting costs, Governor Hochul and the Legislature decided last year to consolidate those administrative functions under a single contractor.
Lawmakers approved the consolidation plan along with the rest of the budget in mid-April 2024. The Health Department opened bidding in June and named PPL as the winner in September. Despite multiple lawsuits seeking to block the transition, PPL began taking over in April 2025.
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Bill Hammond
As the Empire Center's senior fellow for health policy, Bill Hammond tracks fast-moving developments in New York's massive health care industry, with a focus on how decisions made in Albany and Washington affect the well-being of patients, providers, taxpayers and the state's economy.
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Original text here: https://www.empirecenter.org/publications/state-delays-disclosing-emails-about-1b-home-health-contract/
[Category: ThinkTank]
Center of the American Experiment Issues Commentary: As Gov. Walz Ramps Up Civil War Talk, He Gets the History of the Last One Wrong
GOLDEN VALLEY, Minnesota, Jan. 10 -- The Center of the American Experiment, a civic and educational organization that says it creates and advocates policies, issued the following commentary on Jan. 8, 2026:
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As Gov. Walz ramps up civil war talk, he gets the history of the last one wrong
By John Phelan
With a year of his political career remaining, Gov. Walz is, unfortunately, determined to do as much damage as he can on his way out.
Today, giving a press conference on the fatal shooting by an ICE agent in Minneapolis yesterday, the governor invoked the experiences of the 1st Minnesota
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GOLDEN VALLEY, Minnesota, Jan. 10 -- The Center of the American Experiment, a civic and educational organization that says it creates and advocates policies, issued the following commentary on Jan. 8, 2026:
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As Gov. Walz ramps up civil war talk, he gets the history of the last one wrong
By John Phelan
With a year of his political career remaining, Gov. Walz is, unfortunately, determined to do as much damage as he can on his way out.
Today, giving a press conference on the fatal shooting by an ICE agent in Minneapolis yesterday, the governor invoked the experiences of the 1st MinnesotaInfantry Regiment at the battle of Gettysburg:
I told the heroic story of the 1st Minnesota in the Spring 2023 issue of our magazine, Thinking Minnesota. On the second day of the battle -- July 2nd, 1863, not July 3rd as the governor mistakenly thinks -- they played the decisive role in stopping the Confederate attack on the center of the Union line. "The superb gallantry of those men saved our line from being broken," their Corps commander, Winfield Scott Hancock, wrote. "No soldiers, on any field, in this or any other country, ever displayed grander heroism." "At twilight," I wrote in 2023, "just 47 men answered the regimental roll call. Of the 262 Minnesotans who charged the Confederates, 215 -- 82 percent -- were killed or wounded, the most severe losses suffered by a Union regiment in a single engagement during the Civil War."
But besides getting one of the most hallowed dates in Minnesota's state history wrong -- a poor performance from a former history teacher -- the governor's analogy fails in broader, crucial ways.
First, the 1st Minnesota were fighting on behalf of the federal government. Second, they were fighting against the forces of secessionist states which sought remove themselves from rule by the federal government. If Gov. Walz is serious about his lunatic threats to turn the National Guard loose on federal agents, then, by analogy, he is placing them in the role of the 28th Virginia, the Confederate regiment whose battle flag the 1st Minnesota captured while foiling Pickett's Charge on July 3rd.
That flag is in the possession of the Minnesota Historical Society. The governor should go and see it sometime.
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John Phelan is an Economist at the Center of the American Experiment.
john.phelan@americanexperiment.org
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Original text here: https://www.americanexperiment.org/mr-glahn-goes-to-washington/
[Category: ThinkTank]
Capital Research Center Issues InfluenceWatch Wrapup on Jan. 9, 2026
WASHINGTON, Jan. 10 -- The Capital Research Center issued the following InfluenceWatch wrapup on Jan. 9, 2026:
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By Jonathan Harsh
InfluenceWatch, a project of Capital Research Center, is a comprehensive and ever-evolving compilation of our research into the numerous advocacy groups, foundations, and donors working to influence the public policy process. The website offers transparency into these influencers' funding, motives, and connections while providing insight often neglected by other watchdog groups.
The information compiled in InfluenceWatch gives news outlets and other interested
... Show Full Article
WASHINGTON, Jan. 10 -- The Capital Research Center issued the following InfluenceWatch wrapup on Jan. 9, 2026:
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By Jonathan Harsh
InfluenceWatch, a project of Capital Research Center, is a comprehensive and ever-evolving compilation of our research into the numerous advocacy groups, foundations, and donors working to influence the public policy process. The website offers transparency into these influencers' funding, motives, and connections while providing insight often neglected by other watchdog groups.
The information compiled in InfluenceWatch gives news outlets and other interestedparties research to use in reporting on significant topics that are often overlooked by the American public.
CRC is pleased to present some of the most significant additions to InfluenceWatch in the past week:
* The Voting Access for All Coalition (VAAC) is an activist group that supports increased voting access for incarcerated and formerly incarcerated individuals in Michigan. As of 2025, members of VAAC include the American Friends Service Committee's Michigan Criminal Justice Program, the Michigan Unitarian Universalist Social Justice Network, and the Washtenaw County Clerk's Office. VAAC has previously collaborated with left-of-center organizations including the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan and the League of Women Voters of Ann Arbor.
* The NDN Action Network is a Native American activist group that promotes left-of-center policies in South Dakota. It is affiliated with the NDN Collective, a group that has advocated for the closure of the Mount Rushmore National Memorial, calling it an "international symbol of white supremacy and racial injustice" built on "stolen land." The NDN Collective also opposes the use of emissions-free nuclear energy. The NDN Action Network has received funding from left-of-center groups including Tides Advocacy, One for Democracy Action Fund, and the Seattle Foundation.
* Stand in the Gap is a right-of-center organization that offers legal services and other support for defendants who were arrested for their involvement in the January 6, 2021 riot at the United States Capitol in Washington D.C. Services offered by the group include mental health support and financial assistance, as well as fundraising for legal defense in civil lawsuits. On its website the group stated its support for President Donald Trump's January 20, 2025 pardons for over 1,500 individuals connected to the riot.
* The Missouri Workers Center (MWC) is a labor union-affiliated advocacy group that promotes left-of-center public policies in the state. In 2025, it led a coalition of organizations that opposed the construction of a new data center in St. Louis, which included the Missouri Coalition for the Environment, Action St. Louis, Missouri Jobs with Justice, the Sierra Club Louis, and WePower. MWC has received funding from left-of-center groups including the Missouri Organizing and Voter Engagement Collaborative (MOVE), the United for Respect Education Fund (UREF), PowerSwitch Action, the Clean Slate Initiative, the New Venture Fund, and ImpactAssets Inc.
* Ta'ayush (Arabic for "coexistence"), is a pro-Palestinian advocacy organization which documents alleged interactions between Israeli settlers and Palestinians in the West Bank region. It is a fiscally sponsored project of the Alliance for Global Justice(AFGJ), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that has served as a fiscal sponsor to numerous left-wing projects such as Refuse Fascism, United Students Against Sweatshops, the Venceremos Brigade, and Samidoun. AfGJ has received funding from left-of-center organizations including George Soros' Open Society Foundations and the Tides Foundation.
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Jonathan Harsh holds a master's degree in political science from James Madison University and a bachelor's degree in political science from Beloit College. He edits entries and content of the InfluenceWatch website and contributes new content.
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Original text here: https://capitalresearch.org/article/influencewatch-friday-01-09-2026/
[Category: ThinkTank]
CSIS Issues Commentary: Why the Golden Fleet Will Sail
WASHINGTON, Jan. 10 -- The Center for Strategic and International Studies issued the following commentary on Jan. 9, 2026:
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Why the Golden Fleet Will Sail
By Benjamin Jensen
There has been a backlash over President Trump's call for a new class of battleships. Much of this concern misses the need for increasing naval firepower in support of existing doctrine and emerging concepts like hedge forces that can be tailored to different regions. Seen in this light, debates about the new battleship are better analyzed in relation to the enduring interest in arsenal ships and how to optimize massing
... Show Full Article
WASHINGTON, Jan. 10 -- The Center for Strategic and International Studies issued the following commentary on Jan. 9, 2026:
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Why the Golden Fleet Will Sail
By Benjamin Jensen
There has been a backlash over President Trump's call for a new class of battleships. Much of this concern misses the need for increasing naval firepower in support of existing doctrine and emerging concepts like hedge forces that can be tailored to different regions. Seen in this light, debates about the new battleship are better analyzed in relation to the enduring interest in arsenal ships and how to optimize massingcost-effective salvos in naval engagements, something both China and South Korea are exploring as well. And the idea deserves a healthy debate about the costs, benefits, and risks associated with launching new classes of ships and changing how the United States builds future fleets.
Design and Cost Concerns
There is a long history of searching for ways to field larger ships capable of massing long-range fires. In modern naval history, this extends back to debates about dreadnoughts. The early twentieth-century transition to the "all-big-gun" dreadnought was defined by a contentious trade-off between concentrated firepower and the escalating costs of naval supremacy. Critics of the era, such as the "Jeune Ecole" in France, argued that the immense capital investment required for these behemoths made them "eggshells armed with hammers," fearing they were too expensive to risk against burgeoning threats like torpedoes and mines. This debate highlighted an enduring tension in naval architecture: the struggle to balance the strategic necessity of massed effects with the fiscal and operational risks of placing high-value assets in increasingly lethal environments. Ultimately, the dreadnought era proved that while the price of admission to naval power is high, the search for a platform that can dominate through superior range and volume of fire remains a constant in maritime competition.
The emergence of the carrier didn't negate the need for massing effects launched from surface combatants. The Soviet Union built nuclear-powered battlecruisers to mass anti-ship cruise missile salvos against the U.S. Navy. The heir to this class, the Russian Federation Ship Admiral Nakhimov, has 176 vertical launch system (VLS) cells. The Chinese continue to increase the size of their surface combatants. Type 052 has 64 VLS cells, while the follow-on Type 055 has 128 VLS cells. The first batch of the new South Korean Sejong-class destroyers has 128 VLS cells, 32 more cells than a Flight III Arleigh Burke-class destroyer operated by the United States. Multiple navies want to achieve mass effects. Sometimes bigger is better, especially if it is cheaper per salvo launched.
In the United States, there is also a long-running debate about the utility of arsenal ships. The 1990s arsenal ship concept, championed by Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Jeremy Boorda and originally proposed by Vice Admiral Joseph Metcalf and refined by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, envisioned a stealthy, low-profile vessel packed with up to 500 VLS cells to provide massive long-range fire support for land operations and littoral strike. Designed with a minimal crew, the ship was intended to act as a remote magazine, receiving targeting data from off-board platforms like Aegis cruisers or E-2 Hawkeyes via the Cooperative Engagement Capability. Proponents argued it offered a cost-effective way to mass fires, with an estimated price of $450-550 million per ship--roughly one-tenth the cost of a contemporary aircraft carrier. The idea was revived by Huntington Ingalls Industries and converted an LPD to carry 288 VLS cells. However, the concept sparked fierce debate over survivability and costs. These 1990s debates mirror modern concerns: the tension between placing a massive volume of fire on a single hull versus distributing that firepower across a larger, more resilient fleet of smaller, unmanned platforms.
As a result, calling for larger surface combatants that can mass fire salvos is not heretical. The larger question is what constitutes the best set of ship design options for massing effects over time. That requires thinking about costs as well as readiness, maintenance, and ship lifecycles before attacking the utility of any new class of combatant. It also requires a larger debate that brings together the Navy, the Department of War, the White House (i.e., Office of Management and Budget), and Congress to evaluate the options.
Turning to costs, while concerns are valid given the $10 billion price tag of the proposed battleship, every major class of modern warship is expensive and subject to cost overruns. In fact, U.S. Navy shipbuilding is consistently over budget and delayed. This extends to new classes, from the U.S. polar icebreaker to the recent shift in the frigate program.
The bigger announcement than the Trump-class battleship is that the Navy is going to change how it builds all ships. Both Secretary of the Navy John Phelan and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth have zeroed in on cost overruns and delays in recent speeches. This focus follows the Maritime Action Plan announced by the White House in April 2025. That is what the critics are missing.
Calling for a new class of ship to help change construction paradigms, including finding ways to reduce costs by using AI, is a sound approach. Multiple researchers, including those at the International Monetary Fund and the World Economic Forum we are entering the next stage of the fourth industrial revolution. Technologies like digital twins and automated factories reduce the time and cost to build, something seen in South Korea shipyards and Tesla factories.
Combined with economic policy promoting onshoring, this creates a new age of U.S. manufacturing. New plans in the second Trump administration, like the AI Action Plan and multiple executive orders, directly call for creating the type of regulatory environment that supports this resurgence and complement efforts like the Maritime Industrial Base Program in the Department of the Navy. These initiatives extend to new ways of negotiating weapons purchases, such as the multiyear agreement to triple PAC-3 production, and new executive orders aimed at accelerating defense production. There are even provisions in the 2026 National Defense Authorization Act to create government-owned production facilities. In other words, there are reasons to hope that the Trump administration and the Department of the Navy can reduce the costs of shipbuilding and delays, thus making even the high-priced battleship or equivalent arsenal ships cheaper than projected.
Conceptual Fit
Second, critics raise concerns that the battleship, which is only one part of the Golden Fleet, does not match current Navy doctrine. This statement is false. Distributed Maritime Operations calls for distributed ships to complicate enemy targeting. It still advocates massing effects in naval engagements. An arsenal ship that supports long-range strikes that can be integrated into larger pulse operations will be central to both maritime deterrence and joint warfighting.
Consider a future naval engagement in the first island chain. Large ships in a carrier strike group will seek to be outside the threat range, while smaller, unmanned ships will be forward using a mix of electronic decoys and attack to complicate enemy targeting in support of long-range strike packages that combine carrier air wings and air force assets alongside missiles launched from littoral rotational forces like the Marine Littoral Regiment and Multi-Domain Task Force. An arsenal ship adds to this pulse operation, freeing up the VLS cells on a destroyer to protect the carrier and even conduct ballistic missile defense as part of larger integrated air and missile defense networks that connect the land and sea.
Emerging ideas like the hedge strategy outlined by the chief of naval operations will also need to be backed by massed salvos, including hypersonic weapons envisioned for the battleship. The hedge strategy calls for tailoring hybrid fleets for different geographic challenges. Middle East contingencies, for example, will need a mix of counter-mine and air defense capabilities, while scenarios in the first island chain will need capabilities like replicator, attack subs, and joint fires networks. What these different regionally aligned hedge forces will also need is long-range precision strike, whether salvos launched from an arsenal ship, carrier air wing, or creative packages like Rapid Dragon that turn transport aircraft into palletized missile carriers. The idea is to reduce the stress on the large ships, not completely replace them. It is easy to imagine new classes of battleships serving as arsenal platforms that back forward-deployed hedge forces.
New defense planning guidance that will emerge from the National Security Strategy will also likely call for increasing the capacity for naval raids. Strikes against Islamic extremists in Northern Nigeria relied on surface combatants, as did Operation Rough Rider in the Red Sea. A new era of gunboat diplomacy calls for a bigger gun. With large, arsenal ships, the navy can support these raids without stressing high-demand destroyers needed for air and missile defense.
Conclusion: How to Evaluate the Battleship
Announcing a ship is different than fielding a fleet. It is a promise designed to guide reform as much as it is a design parameter. Calling for new classes of ships is as much about reforming the navy and catalyzing the industrial base as it is about fielding any one particular class of ship. The real message is one of change and what Secretary of the Navy Phelan calls the "re-industrialize 2.0" initiative.
In the end, if the battleship is a costly behemoth, it is suboptimal. If it is an arsenal ship that backs up distributed unmanned ships with long-range strike options whose production helps transform how the U.S. builds ships, it directly contributes to maritime strategy.
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Benjamin Jensen is a senior fellow and the director of the Center for Strategic and International Studies Futures Lab in Washington, D.C.
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Original text here: https://www.csis.org/analysis/why-golden-fleet-will-sail
[Category: ThinkTank]
America First Policy Institute: Venezuela Exposes Western Europe's Procedural Reflex
WASHINGTON, Jan. 10 -- The America First Policy Institute issued the following commentary on Jan. 9, 2026, to RealClear World:
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Venezuela Exposes Western Europe's Procedural Reflex
By Kristen Ziccarelli
On January 3, 2026, the United States took historic action against a regime that had spent years exporting violence, narcotics, and instability far beyond its borders. In a joint operation involving the U.S. military and law enforcement, Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were captured and removed from the country. Venezuelans around the world have poured into
... Show Full Article
WASHINGTON, Jan. 10 -- The America First Policy Institute issued the following commentary on Jan. 9, 2026, to RealClear World:
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Venezuela Exposes Western Europe's Procedural Reflex
By Kristen Ziccarelli
On January 3, 2026, the United States took historic action against a regime that had spent years exporting violence, narcotics, and instability far beyond its borders. In a joint operation involving the U.S. military and law enforcement, Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were captured and removed from the country. Venezuelans around the world have poured intothe streets to celebrate the collapse of a brutal dictatorship.
Operation Absolute Resolve was a demonstration of President Trump's capability, restraint, and willingness to act on behalf of the American people, bringing evil to justice. It was also a reminder of something increasingly uncomfortable for Europe: when confronted with real evil that directly threatens the safety of citizens, the U.S. is willing to act decisively instead of surrendering to constructs of international law.
Nearly all the responses from our Western European allies show how far our most important and culturally consonant allies have drifted from reality, and how process-obsessed they have become.
To read the full article, click here (https://www.realclearworld.com/articles/2026/01/09/venezuela_exposes_western_europes_procedural_reflex_1157728.html).
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Kristen Ziccarelli serves as the Director of Civilizational Action at the America First Policy Institute. She began her tenure at AFPI in 2021, and has served as the Senior Policy Analyst for Homeland Security & Immigration, and Director of Production.
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Original text here: https://www.americafirstpolicy.com/issues/venezuela-exposes-western-europes-procedural-reflex
[Category: ThinkTank]
America First Policy Institute: Capture of Maduro and Avoiding Another Iraq Nation-Building Debacle
WASHINGTON, Jan. 10 -- The America First Policy Institute issued the following commentary on Jan. 9, 2026, to American Greatness:
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The Capture of Maduro and Avoiding Another Iraq Nation-Building Debacle
By Fred Fleitz
The massive US military operation ordered by President Trump to apprehend former Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro and his wife from their heavily guarded residence was a game-changer for regional and global security. The Trump administration's next steps will be crucial to ending the threats from Maduro's criminal regime without repeating the disastrous nation-building effort
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WASHINGTON, Jan. 10 -- The America First Policy Institute issued the following commentary on Jan. 9, 2026, to American Greatness:
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The Capture of Maduro and Avoiding Another Iraq Nation-Building Debacle
By Fred Fleitz
The massive US military operation ordered by President Trump to apprehend former Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro and his wife from their heavily guarded residence was a game-changer for regional and global security. The Trump administration's next steps will be crucial to ending the threats from Maduro's criminal regime without repeating the disastrous nation-building effortin Iraq after the second Gulf War.
The operation to capture Maduro removed a narcoterrorist dictator from power and set the stage for the US to restore stability and security to the Western Hemisphere by ending the flow of narcotics, criminal gangs, and illegal migrants into the US from Venezuela.
More importantly, Maduro and his predecessor, Hugo Chavez, made Venezuela into a base of operations that Russia, China, and Iran--as well as drug cartels and Hezbollah--were using to undermine American security and promote their influence in Central and South America. China has given or loaned over $100 billion to Venezuela since 2000 to install anti-US dictators and secure access to Venezuelan oil. Russia loaned and/or made payments to Venezuela totaling $17 billion to $34 billion since 2000. Cuba also has a large presence in Venezuela, providing the regime with troops, intelligence officers, and doctors.
To read the full article, click here (https://amgreatness.com/2026/01/09/the-capture-of-maduro-and-avoiding-another-iraq-nation-building-debacle/).
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Fred Fleitz is originally from Lansdowne, Pennsylvania, and serves as Vice Chair of AFPI's American Security.
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Original text here: https://www.americafirstpolicy.com/issues/the-capture-of-maduro-and-avoiding-another-iraq-nation-building-debacle
[Category: ThinkTank]
