United states and around the world. Im Fareed Zakaria coming to you from new york. We start with two of the worlds critical hot spots. First ukraine. Where president zelenskyy admitted that the counteroffensive is difficult as wes western Officials Say that kyiv is highly unlikely so where does the war go from here . And then to niger, where a Military Coup was launched, that makes for a six county belt of cues spanning 3,500 miles across the african continent. Well tell you what you need to know about this startling trend. Also, are you amazed by the power of Artificial Intelligence . Well wait until you hear about Quantum Computing. It will make todays a. I. Look like childs play. I talked to mitchia kaku about what he sees as the real gamechanger. But first, here is my take. In early may, 2023, it seems obvious that the United States was going to face an unmanageable border crisis. In the Previous Fiscal Year there were about 2. 4 million of apprehensions trying to enter the u. S. At the Souther Board and they were about to lose title 42 implemented in March Of 2022 that allowed them to expel migrants as a pandemic prevention measure. But the end of the pandemic meant that temporary power also had to come to a close. In fact, as it turned out, there was to crisis. The number of encounters with migrants at the Southern Border dropped by a third from about 7,100 per day in april to about 4,800 per day in june. The latest available data. Why did this happen . It seems that the Biden Administr administrations plan worked. It put in place a series of measures designed to deal with the impending problem, a stiff penalty for crossing the border illegally, deportation, plus a fiveyear ban on any reentry. Coupled with expanding ways to apply for legal asylum in the migrants home country. It was a welcome case of well designed policy making a difference. But this success has not changed the fact that the u. S. Immigration system is broken. The crush at the Southern Border may be less than anticipated but it is still an influx and the Er Theects Are being felt across the United States. Texas has famously bused migrants to washington, d. C. And new york. But the truth is that migrants have been crowding into many major American Cities on a scale that is breaking those communities capacities to respond. The New York Metropolitan Area has born a huge burden. New york city is housing more than 50,000 migrants in Homeless Facilities and mayor Eric Adaadams Estimates that the number will double by 2025 and the price tag for the city will be 12 billion over the next three years. Each year that would be roughly twothirds of what the city budgets for the new York Police Department is. New york city is a magnet because after a 1979 lawsuit, it has based policy on the notion that every person entering the city has a right to shelter. Though, in fact, this right is ambiguous and if it exists, it applies at state level, not just that of the city. But places from denver to l. A. Are all reeling from the burden of this influx. The Migration Crisis is being exacerbated by politics on both sides. The maga right demonized asylumseekers and prefers no solution since a crisis helps them politically. But the far left attacks any sensible measures aimed at curbing the influx as cruel and inhumane and illegal. Many blue cities like San FranciscoHave Ordinances and rules that force the local government to tolerate homelessness and vagrancy. Bidens Asylum Policy Faces Lawsuits and Court Challenges from several leftwing groups. Americas Immigration System is broken. If the asylum laws were designed in the aftermath of the holocaust to allow admission to a small number of people personally facing intense persecution because of their religion or political relieves and it provided for their Residency Applications to be evaluated. Millions have arrived at border with a huge numbers of them claiming asylum. While some might have legitimate claims but some are fleeing the poverty and instability and Disease Driving wouldbe migrants to the United States for hundreds of years. But many are realized if they claim asylum, they get special treatment. Some u. S. Officials handling this issue have told me that people are simply gaming the system to gain the best possible chance of entry. The laws and rules around asylum must be fixed to they could focus on the small number of genuine asylumseekers while compelling the rest to seek other legal means of entry. At the same time, it is important to note that america is currently facing a drastic shortfall of labor and needs to expand Legal Immigration in many areas for just that reason. We urgently need to attract the worlds best technically skilled people. So they could push forward the information and biotech revolutions that are transforming the economy and life itself. And with unemployment rates around 50year lows, it is obvious that we need more workers in many sectors of the economy, from agriculture to hospitality. If this is done in a legal and orderly manner, americans will welcome the new workers. Biden has tried to work with republicans on several issues and even had a few successes. He should proposed an Immigration Bill that is genuinely bipartisan and forces compromises from both sides. It would be one more strong dose of evidence that policy can triumph over populism. Go to cnn. Com fareed for a link to my Washington Post column this week. And lets get started. 11 months ago on it program, Volodymyr Zelenskyy told me that his goal was to remove all Russian Troops from ukraine. The interview took place during a time of triumph, just as ukrainian soldiers seized kharkiv back from russian control. Today the picture looks very different. Ukraine is evacuating civilians as russia mounts an aerial bombardment of the territory. Western officials have expressed disappointment in a much lauded counteroffensive which began in june. Ukraine has only taken back an estimated 100 square miles of territory since then. So why does the counter offensive seem to be faltering and does ukraine have a chance of gaining more ground . Joining me now is alina polyakova. Welcome, alina. So tell us, if we are right that the counter offense is not going as well as people had thought, what is the central reason . Is there a central reason . Yeah you know, the expectations on the counter offensive from the start were unreasonably high and there is two main reasons for that. One, ukraine has never had complete control over the air space. And if you think about carrying out a land counteroffensive, which is what the ukrainians are doing, while being bombarded from the air, no u. S. Military operation would be carried out in the same way without complete air superiority. So that is one significant challenge that is slowing down the ukrainians. And the second reason that i think that is equally important is that after many colossal blunders in term of tactics and operations, the russians have now also adapted to a long, drawn Out Con Flick and now in the position of defending territories which is easier than taking back territory. And those are the two main reasons for why we are seeing the kind of on the ground dynamics that have disappointed some western officials. So that raises this very difficult question going forward, right, which is that russians are now defending and theyve often dug into these positions and theyre put land mines in and the ukrainians are trying to attack and you know traditional nato doctrine would say, you need a 3 to 1 advantage in man power, maybe a 4 to 1 advantage to achieve any kind of victory. Is it possible for the ukrainians to break through this russian these russian theyve got land mines and theyve got trenches and then theyve got artillery behind the trenches. Look, everything is really unknown in the fog of war, right. Certainly, right now, it doesnt look like ukraine is in an enviable position. Theyve taken casualty and the russian side has dug in. They have mined the areas between themselves an the ukraine convenience very heavily and that is hurting in many ways. A lot of the weapons provided earlier on the war, tanks, are being being taken out by the mines and now is the moment to rethink our western policy as well. Because we werent prepared for this kind of war. We were supplying ukraine with weapons to at least be able to defend themselves. But we warrant supplying them with the kind of weapons that they need to be able to launch a proper counteroffensive which first and foremost means mean high, long range missile capabilities so they could disrupt russians supply lines behind the front lines. They are very limited in their ability to do that. So, never say never, but the outlook does not look positive for ukraine over the next three or four months. When you talk to Biden Administration officials, he this have two arguments as to why they havent done more faster. One is that the ukraines need to be trained on the equipment. The second is that with longer range missiles, you are there is a balance. You dont want to use missiles that attack deep into the hart of russian territory. Which could give the russians the provocation to feel that they were at war with nato, to use Tactical Nuclear weapons, to get much more aggressive in terms of their aerial bombardment of ukraine cities. What do you think of those arguments . The argument that were going to somehow provoke russia beyond what is currently already done, i think this is a red herring, frankly. Mainly because i dont think there is a high chance that russians will go toward the nuclear decision. We have managed that nuclear escalatory risk and the Biden Administration deserves a huge amount of credit for that. And it is not the russian interest because they would lose whoever alliances or p partnerships with china and india who do not approve of the nuclear use have made that clear to the russians and the second point is further into the territory by krarns. This is war. If youre nat able to disrupt your enemys supply lines and able to hit their their centers of operations, even on ukraine territory, the Ukrainians Cannot fully reach russias logistics and supply lines in their own country and i think this is where the real problem is. Ukraine has no interest in attacking russia. They dont want to escalate this war. As president zelenskyy said on your program, they want to take back their own territory and currently they dont have the reach to be able to truly, truly fight this war in the way that any western military would have in a similar environment. Alina, that is incredibly enlightening. Thank you so much. Thank you, fareed. Next on gps, niger an the Global Implications of one more coup in west africa. Fisher Investments in this market, youull find Fisher Investments is different than other moMoney Managers. other Money Manager differerent how . Arent we all just looking fofr the hottest stocks . Fisher Investments nope. We use diversified strategies to position our clients portfolios for their longterm goals. other Money Manager but you still sell investmentse Fisher Investments no, we dont sell commission, High Commissions for you, righ obligated to act in ouclients best interest. Otheroney Manager so when do you make more money, only when your clients make more money . 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So researchers can help life underwater flourish. Nigers military seized power last month detaining the countrys prowestern president bazoum and resolving the countrys constitution. The head of bazoum president ial guard now claims he is in charge of niger. The coup has sparked fury within most of West African Political Block which met it week to announcing it activating a Standby Force for a possible military intervention. But the block appears split with two member countries that also experienced coups recently, mali and burkina faso, vowing to defend the junta that is now in power. Joining me is rama yade, the senior director of the Atlantic Council of Africa Center and served for Foreign Affairs and human rights. Welcome, rama. Help us understand what is going on here. The New York Times called this the coup belt and if you look at sahell, above the sierra and above the sudanese, i think there have been six coups in the last few years. So what is going on . Niger is The Last Frontier of the fight against terrorism in africa. And that is why that is the first reason why these countries matters so much now. The second reason is that there is a strong fear that the region, the sahell collapses and falls in the hands of china and russia. Because, as you know, there is a skprong competition between global powers and even regional powers in africa. And niger represents these two things. The last frontier of this fight against terrorism, against the Islamic State and al qaeda in africa. But also it is an important asset for western forces who would like to contain the chinese and the russian agenda in africa. So this is getting very complicated. So let me try to understand it. Because what you see is in the same area of the sahell, Global Terrorism deaths have gone from about 1 in 2007, now it is up to 43 . So, you have the Islamic State or isis or remnants of it, destabilizing these countries, which is then causing these governments to get weak and fragile and Military Coups, and meanwhile the chinese and russians are trying to take advantage . Are they allies with the Military Junta that are taking control in these countries . You know, russia, it is more matter of opportunity. And china it is not kecked to the sahell. This global competition is everywhere on the continent. But every time that a coup happens in that area, you could see russian flags in demonstration, popular demonstrations. Africa is key in its russian influence an it is a good way for the western government to avoid to avoid sanctions because it is a rich it is a rich territory. And, as you know, wagner is very active in mali, for example, where they tried to develop and they are developing Predatory Business throug