Europe can’t afford to defend itself against Russia and support Ukraine alone and contribute assistance to Israel, because its economies and national budgets are strapped by decarbonization and dealing with the loss of cheap Russian natural gas. In the wake of record pandemic spending, the European Fiscal Board is pushing European Union members to rein in deficits. Failure to comply will force much higher interest rates to contain inflation. Our joint U.S.-European policy of not provoking Vladimir Putin by giving Kyiv the weapons needed to completely push Russia out of occupied territory and establish secure borders almost guarantees the war will grind on endlessly. By not giving Kyiv what it needs to deliver a knockout punch now, Europe and the U.S. have made the long-term financial drain of the war much greater and invited the Iran-supported Hamas attack on Israel. Also, Europe can’t afford to defend itself because U.S. industrial and trade policies have turned protectionist against our friends. In Germany, for example, manufacturers are forced to relocate operations to China and the United States by the loss of cheap natural gas from Russia and the attraction of subsidies provided by CHIPS and Science Act and Inflation Reduction Act. The U.K., our strongest and most steadfast ally, banked on negotiating a free trade agreement with the United States to complement its free trade arrangement with the EU to accommodate Brexit. But the Biden administration is convinced all new free trade agreements are a threat to America’s middle class and denies the U.K. an agreement.

American policy toward China is 80% correct, but in the other 20% lies America’s great vulnerability. Even with its problems ― real estate debt bubbles, waning investor and consumer confidence, and the paradox of a declining labor force with record youth unemployment ― China still boasts the world’s second-largest economy. China has accomplished parity or superiority in manufacturing process technologies, supercomputers, artificial intelligence, solar panels, electric vehicles and batteries. It boasts the world’s largest navy. With hypersonic and carrier-killing missiles, it threatens the U.S. capacity to defend Taiwan and keep lanes of commerce open in the South China Sea. The Biden administration has taken bold steps to shore up U.S. competitiveness in semiconductors, electric vehicles and green energy technologies. But those are terribly expensive, bloat the federal deficit and threaten to tax Americans through inflation. Despite Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen’s denials that we are not seeking to constrain China’s development, cutting off exports of leading-edge technologies ― including the machine tools used to make the most advanced chips ― and maintaining the Trump tariffs partially have that effect. It’s a rework of Walter Kennan’s 1947 containment policy ― this time with China as the target. This will require nonaligned nations ― especially those in Indochina and the South Pacific ― to choose between China and the West. Despite increasing U.S. defense spending to $858 billion in 2023, the Pentagon lacks the resources to definitively deter aggression in Taiwan and the South China Sea ― in no small measure because we are tied down defending Europe and maintaining a muscular presence in the Middle East.

This latest Zhuhai Air Show has taught us that Western aircraft will no longer dominate China’s domestic airliner market, and Western arms and military aircraft will soon face stiffer competition in international military sales. It should have also taught the West that its technological edge has eroded. Western corporations invested in China, providing employment to China’s growing class of educated people. Western factories introduced manufacturing processes and technologies three to five generations ahead of China’s, which still used machine tools from the 1930s and ’40s. The most important of these were the airframe, information technology and machine tool factories introduced in the late ’90s. Starting in the late 1980s, Beijing asked its students abroad to copy publicly available research papers on aircraft, ships and submarine designs, systems and technology, and those concerning basic scientific research. The cyber-espionage campaign came later, shortly before or after 2000. Those favoring China’s trade and engagement with the regime made excuses for China’s intellectual property theft, accepting the explanation that their legal system was catching up. Western commercial aircraft manufacturers outsourced some of their component production to China. They didn’t realize they were selling their competitive advantage or were too shortsighted to care. The aircraft designs may reflect open source, cyber-espionage and intellectual property theft. It is apparent China intends to challenge Western air, ground and naval superiority at some future date. The West ignores that intention at its peril.

North Korea is now aligned with Russia, with a mutual defense treaty that commits each to defend the other if attacked. North Korea is providing Russia with significant quantities of artillery shells and ballistic missiles. North Korea reportedly sent 10,000 special forces troops to Russia recently to aid Russia in its war of aggression in Ukraine. Indeed, North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs continue to grow exponentially, with North Korea’s launch of an Intercontinental ballistic missile - the Hwasong-19 - capable of reaching anywhere in the United States. North Korea’s Constitution has been amended to make South Korea and the U.S. the nation’s principal enemies, with North Korea eschewing reunification with South Korea while destroying all roads and rail lines that connect the two. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, now aligned with Russia, may be emboldened to incite conflict on the peninsula. From 1950 to 1953, Korean War resulted in significant U.S., South Korea, Chinese and North Korean casualties. The 1953 armistice stopped the fighting, yet hostilities continue. The possibility of another war on the Korean Peninsula is greater now than any time since 1953. This time, however, a North Korea aligned with Russia, committed to come to the defense of North Korea if attacked, reportedly has tactical and strategic nuclear weapons, and Mr. Kim has threatened to use them. In short, the administration of President-elect Donald Trump will inherit a multitude of foreign policy challenges that will require his immediate attention. And based on his first term as president, it’s likely Mr. Trump will personally interact with Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping and Kim Jong-Un in an effort to resolve some or all of these issues.

In China, there are no elections permitting the people to elect their representatives and their leader, Xi Jinping. Nonetheless, China criticizes our democratic system where the people make these leadership decisions. The same can be said for Russia with its bogus elections, Iran with its ruling theocracy and North Korea with the ruling Kim dynasty. The New York Times recently asserted that “the relative stability on domestic and international affairs during the past four years is about to be gone, replaced by a volatile president who often operates without regard to national precedent.” Russia’s war in Ukraine continues into its third year, reportedly with over 1 million casualties on both sides. China continues trying to intimidate Taiwan with naval and air military exercises mimicking a blockade. Chinese naval exercises are an effort to restrict freedom of navigation in international waters in the South China Sea, most recently directed at the Philippines and that nation’s sovereignty over Second Thomas Shoal, according to a finding from the U.N. arbitral tribunal. Iranian leader Ali Khamenei’s stated goal is to eradicate Israel. Iran’s support of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen is part of Iran’s strategy to confront and eventually eliminate Israel. The Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel, in which more than 1,200 men, women and children were killed and 254 hostages were taken, has inflamed the region, with Israel confronting Iran and attempting to destroy Hamas while also taking on Hezbollah and the Houthis. Efforts to reach a cease-fire in Gaza have failed amid concern that hostilities could escalate and engulf the region in war.

Mr. Kim will no doubt expect Russia to share intelligence on the U.S. and other adversaries and the cyber hacking tools North Korea needs to penetrate U.S. networks more effectively. The presence of North Korean troops in the most destructive ground war in Europe since World War II is unprecedented. The incoming Trump administration would do well to make North Korea and Russia pay a price for their collaboration. The U.S. should encourage South Korea to supply arms directly to Ukraine. A direct supply line from Seoul to Kyiv would be a force multiplier for Ukraine’s desperate defense of its homeland. The American intelligence community needs to step up its full-court press to recruit Russian sources, particularly those with access to sensitive information about Mr. Putin’s North Korea strategy, and work with Ukraine to build a defector program designed to entice disgruntled North Korean soldiers and officers. The Biden administration’s strategy failed to account for the fact that the Kremlin’s war on Ukraine is, ironically, the oxygen for Russia’s unholy alliance with China, Iran and North Korea. Rather than appease Mr. Putin, the U.S. should permit Ukraine to strike military targets in Russia with NATO munitions. The Trump administration will need to define what Ukrainian victory looks like. The administration should ensure that Kyiv enters any cease-fire talks from a position of strength. Russians have a saying: “Free cheese can only be found in a mousetrap.” The Trump administration can demonstrate to North Korea (and China and Iran in the bargain) that an alliance with Russia is like getting caught in a mousetrap.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which the Kremlin expected to topple the Kyiv government in days, has been a geopolitical catastrophe for President Vladimir Putin. NATO membership for long-neutral Finland and Sweden, a Europe awakened from its post-Cold War slumber with a commitment to bigger defense budgets. Mr. Putin has been forced to rely on its strategic rivals Iran and China, as well as North Korea, to keep his costly war going. Not one to deliver lethal support to Mr. Putin’s war machine free of charge, the ruthless Mr. Kim will undoubtedly demand a quid pro quo from Russia. Exploiting its seat on the U.N. Security Council, Russia is providing a diplomatic lifeline to Mr. Kim’s “hermit kingdom.” Emboldened by the new comprehensive strategic partnership security and defense pact, which he signed with Mr. Putin in June, Mr. Kim has new freedom to carry out an increasingly aggressive and destabilizing foreign policy on the Korean Peninsula and across the region. Last month, North Korea test-fired its longest-ever intercontinental ballistic missile test, with enough range to reach the U.S. homeland. North Korea will want food and financial assistance, as well as valuable battlefield experience for those North Korean soldiers deployed against the Ukrainians. Mr. Kim is intent on improving North Korea’s satellite technology and missile delivery systems - including nuclear-armed submarines - and obtaining the technology to miniaturize nuclear warheads for placement on his missiles.

A recent survey found that not only do 30% of Generation Z members and millennials did not have or want to have children, but 23% thought it was irresponsible to do so because of climate change. This lack of current and future births has ramifications for all aspects of our society, including education. Jay Greene of The Heritage Foundation recently wrote that as our population ages, the biggest strain on fiscal budgets will be health care funding and entitlements for older adults, and schools will start to see their budgets tighten or slashed to take care of those nearing the end of life rather than those who are just starting out. The other factor is religion. In states where religious faith is strong and encouraged, young couples are having children. That faith motivates young couples to have children and form strong families. Conversely, in the more secular states, rather than practicing the sacrifice needed for parenting, young adults are either not marrying or are more likely after marrying to seek what they view as personal fulfillment. They see children as a detriment to their happiness or as a threat to the planet. The faith and purpose of those having children is what will propel our nation from spiraling into a financial and cultural death knell - a death knell that is growing louder in those states where young populations are shrinking while older populations are exploding. Perhaps no other factor will seal our future as a nation more than our current and future fertility rates. It is my hope that those who now say they do not have children or do not want them will come to understand that their future, as well as our nation’s, depends on their doing so.

Vladimir Putin firmly believes his war of conquest against Ukraine is winnable. In China, Xi Jinping has told his military to be prepared to wage war by 2027. His goal is to conquer Taiwan, a democratic society that doesn’t want to be crushed under a communist jackboot. Iran’s dictator, Ali Khamenei, has been fighting a war against Israel for years ― primarily using Arab militias in Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Yemen. He aims to eradicate Israel and establish a modern Muslim empire that will end the global preeminence of the United States. It’s disappointing that so many Western political and thought leaders tell themselves that our enemies just have “grievances” that we must “address.” They think that peace, like cheese, can be processed. The quaint notion that there are “no military solutions,” only “diplomatic solutions,” doesn’t stand up to scrutiny. It’s after the military defeat of an enemy that diplomats can be most useful, building political structures atop the rubble. That’s how World War II ended. Now consider the next war the U.S. fought on the Korean Peninsula (1950-1953). It culminated in a cease-fire, an armistice, a stalemate. After that came decades of negotiations intended to prevent the dynastic dictatorship in North Korea from acquiring nuclear weapons and missiles to deliver them. Deals were cut. All of those deals failed. Mr. Kim Jong Un has sent 10,000 troops to help Mr. Putin conquer Ukraine. In return, there is a “high chance,” that Mr. Kim will ask Mr. Putin for technology useful for making tactical nukes or improving ICBMs.

The Six-Party Talks ended in 2009 because of North Korea’s efforts to deny nuclear monitors access to suspected highly enriched uranium sites. In March 2010, North Korea used a miniature submarine to sink a South Korean corvette, the Cheonan, killing 46 sailors. In November 2010, North Korea shelled South Korea’s Yeonpyeong Island at the Northern Limit Line established by the U.N. separating South and North Korea in the West Sea. There is a pattern with North Korea: When developments are in its favor, it behaves reasonably. When developments are not in its favor, it is hostile. North Korea is threatening to preemptively use nuclear weapons if it perceives a threat to the leadership or command and control. South Korea and the U.S. are North Korea’s principal enemies, and peaceful reunification is no longer North Korea’s goal, having destroyed all railways and roads connecting North and South Korea. This is while North Korea builds more nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles to deliver these weapons of mass destruction. North Korea’s new alliance with Russia and their treaty commits each to the defense of the other if attacked. North Korea is now sending troops to aid Russia in its war in Ukraine, in addition to providing artillery shells and ballistic missiles. This is a clear statement from Pyongyang that it has given up on South Korea and the U.S. and are fully in Russia’s camp. The only country that could persuade Kim Jong Un to stop this escalation is China. So far, China has refrained from helping North Korea, given its tense relationship with the U.S. But it is also in China’s interest to convince Mr. Kim that war on the Korean Peninsula must be prevented.