The Week Evening Review
Boots on the ground in Ukraine, Biden's legacy, and a TikTok alternative

 
TODAY'S BIG QUESTION

Would boots on the ground keep peace in Ukraine?

The UK will "play a full part" in any future peacekeeping initiative in Ukraine, said Keir Starmer.

After Donald Trump ruled out sending US troops to keep the peace, with one member of his team saying they should "get the Poles, Germans, British and French to do it", the prime minister told Politico that European states will "need to do more".

What did the commentators say?
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy insists that any deal with Moscow must be "followed up" with "meaningful security guarantees" from Kyiv's Western allies, and pressure is growing for European nations to step up.

Any security guarantees offered to Ukraine are "likely to require foreign troops to credibly enforce a ceasefire", said Doug Klain from the Atlantic Council. So European leaders should "demonstrate their readiness to deploy forces", on the condition that Washington "backs them" with the "logistical, military, and political support" required to "make such an operation feasible".

If they are deployed, it's "very unlikely" that European troops would be stationed along the frontline itself, said Kyiv Independent. They'd more likely be "further back", acting as a so-called "tripwire force", to make any further Russian aggression in Ukraine "immediately come at the cost of direct conflict with Nato".

But the idea of putting European boots on the ground in Ukraine is "deeply problematic", said Samuel Charap in the Financial Times. The UN is a "neutral third party" that can "arbitrate disputes and be an honest broker" but, given its "extensive support" for Ukraine, Europe is "anything but a neutral third party", so, "almost by definition", European states "could not lead a peacekeeping force in Ukraine".

European leaders "appear to be putting the cart before the horse". So "they must first decide" if they're "willing to commit to go to war" with Russia "if it invades again", because "deploying a tripwire force" before choosing what exactly the wire would trip makes no sense.

What next?
Although Starmer has spoken to Emmanuel Macron about the prospect of a "Franco-British joint force", said The i Paper, UK officials have "played down the prospect".

Putting British "boots on the ground" would be "controversial for Starmer at home", said Politico. Asked if he would give MPs a say on the issue, he said: "We are getting well ahead of ourselves."

 
 
the explainer

Three things President Biden will be remembered for

In a farewell address to the US nation on Wednesday, Joe Biden listed the accomplishments of his presidency but said it would "take time to feel the full impact of all we've done together".

Presidential legacies are "complicated matters", said The Atlantic. But as Biden leaves The White House, he seems "less a transformational figure than a historical parenthesis".

Economic highs and lows
On the domestic front, said The Washington Post, Biden "has much to point to", not least "an economic recovery out of the pandemic" that is "the envy of other countries". His landmark "American Rescue Plan" delivered nearly $2 trillion in new government spending. But rampant inflation – due, in some part, to these policies – proved stubborn to shift, and voters came to blame Biden's presidency for rising prices in stores.

Support for Ukraine
The Biden administration was quick to support Ukraine following Russia's invasion in February 2022. And continued US support, including $183 billion in military aid, "has been critical to Ukraine's effort to repel the Russian invasion, and has inspired Nato allies to do the same", said international security expert Dafydd Townley on The Conversation.

Yet fierce fighting "continues on the frontlines with no clear plan for a peace deal", said CBS News. Biden also faced criticism early in the conflict "for holding back on sending the most lethal weapons", while Republicans have attacked him for "spending too much money on Ukraine aid".

Second election run
Biden ran for president in 2020 as a transition candidate – an "implicit but clear pledge that he intended to serve a single term", said The New York Times. Yet, despite record-low approval ratings, voters' concern about his age and clear signs of physical and mental decline, he decided to run again in 2024, claiming he was the only person capable of beating Donald Trump. In the end, his replacement, Kamala Harris, had only 100 days to introduce herself to the electorate as the Democrats' presidential candidate, and to distance herself from Biden's more unpopular policies.

"He'd like his legacy to be that he rescued us from Trump," Democratic strategist Susan Estrich told the BBC. "But sadly, for him, his legacy is Trump again. He is the bridge from Trump One to Trump Two."

 
 
QUOTE OF THE DAY

"Keep your eye on the doughnut, not on the hole."

David Lynch's family invoke his creative mantra as they announce the death of the ground-breaking US film director and artist. Lynch, creator of surrealistic TV show "Twin Peaks", died yesterday at the age of 78.

 
 

Poll watch

Eight in ten Britons (78%) think that the UK's economy is in a bad state, according to the latest YouGov poll of 2,164 adults. That's almost as many as in aftermath of the controversial Liz Truss mini-Budget in 2022, when a pessimistic rating of the economy hit 80%.

 
 
IN THE SPOTLIGHT

RedNote: TikTok alternative crossing cultural divide

The clock is ticking for TikTok in the US, where a looming ban on the app has triggered a mass exodus to rival platforms. 

A political battle has been raging over Chinese-owned TikTok, which is due to be barred from American app stores from Sunday on national security grounds, under a federal law passed last year. But while Donald Trump has pledged to intervene to prevent the ban, some concerned users have already jumped ship to alternatives – one of which is proving especially popular.

Chinese app Xiaohongshu, or RedNote in English, launched in 2013 and is now "one of China's fastest-growing social platforms, with a value of over $17 billion", said USA Today. RedNote is "often described as a Chinese version of Instagram" and allows users to upload photos and videos.

TikTok refugees
RedNote "hits a lot of the right notes for creators looking for a TikTok alternative" and "boasts a number of social shopping features", said TechCrunch. The app has 300 million users, mostly based in China, but gained more than 700,000 in just two days this week amid the US row. However, the platform is highly censored, as is typical in China, and some new users were "unable to post about topics known to be sensitive in China, such as the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown", said Reuters.

The "irony that Americans are leaving TikTok for another Chinese-run app has not been lost on many," said NPR. This has played out "like a global practical joke on the American government", said The New York Times. Threatened with exile from TikTok over concerns of Chinese interference, "its users have simply scrolled to a different Chinese app, one whose name evokes the Chinese Communist Party".

Bridging the Sino-American divide
But RedNote is also "the most apolitical social platform in China", said Time. The app has a highly educated audience, with many fluent English speakers who generally are more bothered about lifestyle trends than nationalist politics. It’s not difficult to imagine "that even if US users tried other Chinese platforms, they may encounter more nationalism, hostility or, at best, indifference".

By contrast, the growing popularity of RedNote in the West could help bridge the Sino-American divide, according to some commentators. Heather Roberts, an American artist with more than 32,000 followers on TikTok and a new account on RedNote, told CNN she enjoyed using the latter because "everyone is being so nice, so kind". And "we're finding that the Chinese people are not so different from us".

 
 

Good day 🐗

... Rillette the wild boar, who has been given a stay of execution by French authorities. The boar was found as a piglet by horse breeder Elodie Cappé in 2023, after being apparently abandoned by its mother. Local authorities initially refused Cappé's request to keep the wild animal, putting Rillette at risk of being euthanised. But a French court has now ruled that the authorities should re-examine their decision, and Rillette can stay with her rescuer. It follows an international campaign to save the boar – named after the popular shredded pork dish – by animal-rights activists, including actor Brigitte Bardot.

 
 

Bad day 🌘

... for the Moon, which has been placed on a list of threatened heritage sites, due to fears of potential looting and destruction caused by planned commercial trips. The World Monuments Fund (WMF), known for protecting cultural sites on Earth, has added the moon to its watchlist for the first time, citing "mounting risks from increasing lunar activities" without proper preservation measures. It follows the launch of two SpaceX lunar landers this week, and the expected surge in private moon missions after NASA’s Artemis III mission in 2027, which will be the first crewed lunar landing since the 1970s.

 
 
picture of the day

Trick shot

Spain's Carlos Alcaraz hits an impressive between-the-legs return as he beats Portugal's Nuno Borges in four sets in the men's singles on day six of the Australian Open in Melbourne.

Martin Keep / AFP via Getty Images

 
 
Puzzles

Test your general knowledge with The Week's daily crossword, part of our puzzles section, which also includes sudoku and codewords

 
 
THE WEEK RECOMMENDS

Blackheath: Brandram Road
A Grade II end-of-terrace urban cottage within a 19th-century gated development. 1 bed, family bathroom, kitchen, reception, courtyard, communal garden. £439,950; Winkworth

Sydenham: Longton Avenue II
This striking house, built in 1980, was part of a pioneering scheme of self-build houses overseen by the architect Walter Segal. 3 beds, 2 showers, kitchen, reception, garden, summer house/studio, garage. £675,000; The Modern House

Blackheath: The Paragon II
A light-filled flat in one of the finest Georgian crescents in England. 2 beds, shower, open-plan kitchen/living room. £635,000; Inigo

Notting Hill: Ledbury Road
First-floor flat in the heart of Notting Hill. The property benefits from large windows that provide plenty of natural light, wooden floors and a modern kitchen. 1 bed, shower, open-plan kitchen/living room, full-width terrace. £600,000; Knight Frank

 
 

Statistic of the day

11 calories: the amount by which a person reduces their food choices, on average, after reading calorie labels on menus and food packages, according to a new study. Eleven calories is roughly equivalent to a single Pringle crisp or two almonds.

 
 
instant opinion

Today's best commentary

Take it from me, it's never wise to sack your chancellor
Kwasi Kwarteng in The i Paper
The roles of prime minister and chancellor have been "at the centre" of British government "since the Second World War", writes Kwasi Kwarteng, and PMs who sack their chancellor "often have a very limited shelf life after that". I knew before Liz Truss sacked me that it would "effectively sign her own political death warrant". Keir Starmer "will have watched" how that played out and "that's why I don't think he will sack" Rachel Reeves.

Fare-dodging is out of control — don't make it even easier
Ben Clatworthy in The Times
"Fare-dodging is rife on the railways", where "thieves barge through barriers, tailgate paying passengers or even scramble over gates with impunity", writes Ben Clatworthy. Passenger watchdog Transport Focus is "proposing a 'yellow card' system for first offenders" to stop people being "penalised for innocent mistakes", but if passengers think they will get off with a warning, "fare-dodging will spiral even further". Rather than "more leniency", we need "more ticket inspections" and "the real threat of punishment".

The allegations against Neil Gaiman
Rachel Cunliffe in The New Statesman
Claims that the author Neil Gaiman "abused several women" in "incidents that span multiple decades" have "sent shockwaves through his fanbase – even a sense of betrayal", writes Rachel Cunliffe. Gaiman, who denies the allegations, was "celebrated as a feminist hero" for his "depictions of vulnerable women". His books teem with tales of men raping, torturing and killing women but this was seen as proof of his "empathy": that "whatever you might have suffered, he was on your side".

 
 
word of the day

Frigidarium

The Latin name of the "most spectacular room" – the cold room – in the enormous Roman bathhouse that's just been discovered by archaeologists in Pompeii. Part of a luxurious private residence, thought to have once belonged to the wealthy and influential politician Aulus Rustius Verus, the bathhouse is a "once-in-a-century discovery" and, alongside the hot and warm rooms, the frigidarium, with its frescoed walls and plunge pool, is "so large, 20-30 people could fit in it", said the BBC.

 
 

In the morning

Look out for our Saturday Wrap in your inboxes tomorrow, including a report on the aftermath of the wildfires in Los Angeles.

Have a great weekend and thanks for reading,
Jamie

 
 

Evening Review was written and edited by Jamie Timson, Sorcha Bradley, Rebecca Messina, Elliott Goat, Chas Newkey-Burden, Justin Klawans, Irenie Forshaw, Helen Brown, Kari Wilkin and David Edwards, with illustrations from Stephen Kelly.

Image credits, from top:  Illustration by Stephen Kelly / Getty Images; Tiziana Fabi / AFP via Getty Images; AP Photo / Andy Wong; Martin Keep / AFP via Getty Images; Knight Frank; Winkworth; The Modern House; Inigo