Zelensky to D-Day Vet: 'You saved Europe'; Leaders of the free world honor D-Day in France; Better government in liberal democracies; Pentagon speeding up high-tech systems; Investment income highs
Ukraine’s Zelensky to American D-Day veteran: “You saved Europe”
Sophie Pedder, The Economist: “A D-Day commemoration that was not just about beating Hitler”
Sacrifice and unimaginable heroism were a motif throughout the D-Day commemorations on Thursday. So was the fight for freedom and democracy, as well as French gratitude to the Allied forces. The presence of Volodymyr Zelensky sharpened that message.
France24: Macron to supply Ukraine with Mirage 2000-5 warplanes and train pilots and troops in France
“Tomorrow we will launch a new cooperation and announce the transfer of Mirage 2000-5” fighter jets to Ukraine made by French manufacturer Dassault and train their Ukrainian pilots in France, Macron told French TV.
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Macron said Ukraine was facing a “huge challenge” training soldiers as it sought to mobilise tens of thousands more troops to go to the front.
He said France would equip and train an entire brigade of 4,500 Ukrainian soldiers so they can defend themselves when they return to Ukraine from training.
BBC: Biden links WW2 and Ukraine war in D-Day address
US President Joe Biden has drawn parallels between Russia's invasion of Ukraine and World War Two, in a speech commemorating the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings in Normandy, France.
Speaking just steps away from where 9,388 members of the US military who participated in the landings are buried, Mr Biden warned democracies across the globe were once again under threat, adding autocrats were closely watching the Western response to Ukraine.
Ed Dolan, Niskanen Center: Breaking down the myth that authoritarian governments are better at good governance than liberal democracies.
As the threat of authoritarianism grows, many worry that authoritarian governments have greater capacity to get things done. Yet the data show that with few exceptions, the highest state capacity is still largely found in liberalism.
David Ignatius, Washington Post: “The Pentagon is learning how to change at the speed of war”
Leading the campaign for Pentagon reform is Kathleen Hicks, deputy secretary of defense. In August, she announced the “Replicator Initiative,” which aimed to transfer the tech lessons of Ukraine for the potential battle areas of the Indo-Pacific. She wanted cheap drones for use in land, sea and air — and quickly. The goal, Hicks said, was to field “autonomous systems at [a] scale of multiple thousands, in multiple domains, within the next 18 to 24 months.”
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That was unimaginably fast for the Pentagon. But Hicks said in a January speech that in its first five months, Replicator had achieved what normally takes the Pentagon two to three years.
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The first Replicator drone systems were delivered to warfighters last month.
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Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall announced in March 2023 an innovative plan called “Collaborative Combat Aircraft” to team uncrewed jets with ones piloted by humans. The Air Force plans to buy at least 1,000 of these uncrewed jets and have them in the air by the end of the decade.
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The Navy last month announced a new squadron of what it hopes will be hundreds of unmanned surface vessels, known as Global Autonomous Reconnaissance Craft. The squadron’s informal name is “Hell Hounds.”
Four big uncrewed Navy vessels completed in January a five-month deployment to Hawaii, Guam, Micronesia, Australia and other destinations.
Wall Street Journal: “Americans Have More Investment Income Than Ever Before”
The economy’s charge through higher interest rates is putting unprecedented sums into consumers’ pockets, pushing U.S. asset values to records and helping many high earners avoid the withering effects of inflation.
Americans in the first quarter earned about $3.7 trillion from interest and dividends at a seasonally adjusted annual rate, according to the Commerce Department, up roughly $770 billion from four years earlier. In the last quarter of 2023, wealth held in stocks, real estate and other assets such as pensions reached the highest level ever observed by the Federal Reserve.