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Insights, analysis and must reads from CNN's Fareed Zakaria and the Global Public Square team, compiled by Global Briefing editor Chris Good

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January 26, 2025

On Today’s Show

On GPS, at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. ET on CNN:

President Donald Trump is fond of saying that on the world stage, the US is a sucker that gets taken advantage of. Offering his take from the World Economic Forum’s annual gathering in Davos, Switzerland, Fareed says the rest of the world begs to differ. 

Broadly, the US is seen as a world-leading hegemon that does as it pleases and gets treated quite well, Fareed says. By haranguing other countries for discounts—most of them friends, allies and partners—Trump threatens the peaceful and prosperous international system in which the US has thrived, Fareed argues.
 
After that: In Davos, Fareed talks with key leaders from two archenemies in the global spotlight—Israel and Iran.

First, Fareed talks with Israeli President Isaac Herzog about prospects for extending the Gaza ceasefire deal and whether Herzog supports the creation of a Palestinian state. Then, Fareed asks Iranian Vice President for Strategic Affairs Javad Zarif about the weakened state of Iran and its proxy network, and whether Trump might negotiate a new nuclear deal after exiting the first one. 
 
Finally: How should the world respond to Trump’s tariff threats? Fareed talks with World Trade Organization Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.

Will Trump Shield US Tech Firms From Europe?

Europe is at the vanguard of regulating big tech companies. It has some of the world’s strictest data-protection laws, and US tech giants abide. In antitrust and tax cases, the EU has fined Google and Apple billions of euros. More recently, the European Commission has put X in its sights. This month, it asked the platform for internal documents concerning its algorithms.
 
At the European Council on Foreign Relations, José Ignacio Torreblanca wonders if the Trump administration will seek to fight back on American tech firms’ behalf—perhaps undermining extant or future EU rules, initiatives, or cases.

Of particular interest are rules about content moderation. Europe’s Digital Services Act requires platforms to remove illegal or infringing content expeditiously once they know about it. The law also mandates users’ right to contest moderation actions and transparency surrounding moderation and content algorithms. Firmly allied with US tech leaders—and no fan of online censorship—Trump could seek to roll back Brussels’ influence over social platforms’ practices worldwide. 

“Trump, [Elon] Musk and the ‘Make America Great Again’ (MAGA) Republicans believe that by buying Twitter (which he rebranded as X), Musk restored free speech and saved American democracy.” ECFR’s Torreblanca argues. “Musk wants to replicate worldwide what he has done in the US and is already meddling in European politics.” (Recently, Musk has revived a years-old UK sex-abuse scandal and endorsed Germany’s far-right AfD party.) In announcing Meta's move away from fact-checking this month, Mark Zuckerberg sought the US government’s help in pushing back against content-moderation requirements around the world.

If Trump applies pressure, Torreblanca writes, European “[c]apitulation would not only set a perilous precedent but also signal the EU’s submission as a digital vassal of the US. Instead, Europeans must stand firm and use the bloc’s legal, economic, and diplomatic tools to safeguard its democratic values and technological sovereignty.”

Austria’s Ascendant Far Right

Having won a national election in September, Austria’s far right is seeking to form a government for the first time since World War II. Analyst are contemplating what that might mean for Austria and Europe. It would reflect a “new normal” according to one EU diplomat, writes John Henley, Europe correspondent for The Guardian.

Walter Mayr wrote for Der Spiegel earlier this month: “Mainly founded as a political home for former Nazis, the party [abbreviated as FPÖ] … is essentially an Austrian version of [Prime Minister] Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz in Hungary, [Italian Deputy Prime Minister] Matteo Salvini’s Lega and the French right-wing party Rassemblement National.” The biggest clash between the FPÖ and the center-right, with which it is attempting to form a coalition, will likely be over “foreign and European policy,” Mayr writes. FPÖ leader and prospective chancellor Herbert Kickl “has never made secret his admiration for the autocratic governing style of … Orbán. Particularly the manner in which Orbán has managed to rein in his country’s media and judiciary. In addition, Kickl was an early opponent of sanctions against Russia.”
 
At the World Politics Review, Amanda Coakley writes that the FPÖ’s rise “presents a unique new twist for Europe’s far right … Unlike Hungary, the Netherlands and France, where far-right figures have built political machines … based on personalist leadership styles, Austria’s swing to the extremes is not driven by the fire and fury of a singular popular figure. Instead, it is the product of a slow and methodical campaign that has chipped away at the establishment parties’ base of support by exploiting frustrations around a weakening economy and fears over migration.”