On this week’s Washington Roundtable, sponsored by Bell, Dr. Patrick Cronin of the Hudson Institute, Michael Herson of American Defense International, former Pentagon Europe chief Jim Townsend of the Center for a New American Security, and former Pentagon Comptroller Dov Zakheim of the Center for Strategic and International Studies join Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian to discuss defense budget implications of House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s proposal to sharply cut spending for a one-year debt ceiling increase, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg’s visit to Kyiv, alliance efforts to improve Ukraine’s capabilities in advance of its planned offensive, whether Sweden will join the alliance this summer, French efforts to walk back controversial comments by President Emmanuel Macron, Beijing’s response to US efforts to diminish tensions, a review of the week across the Indo-Pacific as new Chinese surveillance capabilities are revealed and senior US leaders testify before Congress, update on Israel’s drive to create a national guard, and Iran on the 40th anniversary of the bombing of the US embassy in Beirut that killed 63 including 17 Americans, injuring another 120.
