Briefing | Biden’s bandwidth

The overstretched superpower

America could face wars in the Middle East, Ukraine and Taiwan

US President Joe Biden reaches to shake hands with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Image: Getty Images
|WASHINGTON, DC

THREE DAYS after Hamas fighters swarmed across the security fence of the Gaza Strip, killing more than 1,400 people and kidnapping about 220 more, the USS Gerald R. Ford, America’s most modern aircraft-carrier, arrived in the eastern Mediterranean, accompanied by its fleet of warships. A second carrier strike group, led by the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, is sailing to the Middle East, presumably to move closer to Iran. Aircraft and air-defence systems are being dispatched to the region, and troops are being readied, too.

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This article appeared in the Briefing section of the print edition under the headline "The overstretched superpower"

America’s test

From the October 28th 2023 edition

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