Axios

President Trump appears to be trying to decouple the American and Chinese economies, but he may be largely too late.

What's happening: China's push to own the Big Tech future, and make what it needs at home — what Xi calls "Made in China 2025" — is in part an effort to inoculate itself from Western politics. The next time the U.S. decides to sanction Chinese tech, the impact will be cushioned.

National Security Adviser John Bolton reiterated to his Russian counterpart today in Moscow that the U.S. is pulling out of an arms control treaty signed in 1987 by Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev, Axios' Jonathan Swan reports.

The big picture: Trump isn't just walking away from a landmark of the last Cold War, he's looking ahead to the next one. One of the key arguments for withdrawing from the treaty is that the U.S. will need every tool at its disposal to confront the military rise of China.

Glued to a 2,400-year-old script, the U.S. and China seem to be on the same war-bound path that great powers have taken since Sparta fought upstart Athens.

The bottom line: The U.S. has slapped increasing tariffs on Beijing, cordoned off U.S. tech, and jailed a Chinese spy, while Beijing has continued to build its military footprint in the disputed South China Sea, demanded tech secrets from Western companies, and more.

President Trump told French President Emmanuel Macron last month that he's ready to put pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to accept his upcoming Middle East peace plan, four Western diplomats briefed on the meeting tell me. Trump specifically mentioned the fact the U.S. gives Israel billions of dollars in aid every year.

Why it matters: We haven’t previously heard Trump say anything about his willingness to put pressure on Netanyahu, perhaps his staunchest ally around the world. Three days after the meeting with Macron, which happened on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, Trump met with Netanyahu in New York and announced for the first time his support for the two state solution. In the same meeting, Trump said he was planning to present his peace plan in two to four months.

On Oct. 19, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), an intergovernmental organization that sets standards for countries to combat money laundering and terrorist financing, gave Iran an extension until February 2019 to implement its plan to address “strategic deficiencies” in these areas.

Why it matters: The U.S., which currently holds the FATF presidency and wants to impose “unprecedented financial pressure” on Iran, almost certainly opposed the extension. Washington’s inability to carry the debate demonstrates the diplomatic shortcomings of its unilateral approach to Iran.

National Security Adviser John Bolton has relayed to his Russian counterpart President Trump's "strong, clear and precise words" on the Nevada tarmac on Saturday: "We’re going to terminate the agreement and we're going to pull out" of the landmark Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, according to a senior official accompanying the U.S. delegation in Moscow.

Behind the scenes: In a meeting in Moscow on Monday morning, Bolton made it his first agenda item to convey the Trump administration's intention to the Secretary of the Security Council of Russia, Nikolai Patrushev.

The Kremlin claimed Monday that President Trump's withdrawal from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty would make the world a more dangerous place, and warned that Russia would retaliate if the U.S. begins developing new missiles, reports Reuters.

The big picture: National Security Adviser John Bolton is in Moscow today and Tuesday, where he will hold talks with Russian officials and discuss Trump's decision to pull out of the historic pact. While both the U.S. and Russia have long accused each other of violating the terms of the deal, Trump's unilateral withdrawal has nonetheless prompted concern from China, France, Germany and other members of the international community.

A new Eurobarometer survey finds that of all 28 EU members states, support for membership in the bloc in a Brexit-like referendum is weakest in Italy, where a Euroskeptic government is currently in power.

The big picture: The EU has seen a rise in Euroskeptic parties leading up to and continuing after the Brexit vote. But even as these parties accumulate power in countries like Italy, Hungary and the Czech Republic, the share of Europeans who would currently vote to leave the EU does not breach 40% in any country. Frustration with the bureaucracy of Brussels doesn't appear to be enough for any country to endure the procedural nightmare we've seen from Brexit negotiations.

British Defense Secretary Gavin Williamson told the Financial Times that the U.K. would stand by President Trump's decision to withdraw from a landmark nuclear treaty with Russia, claiming that the Kremlin has made a "mockery" of the deal with repeated violations.

Why it matters: Prime Minister Theresa May and her cabinet have taken a hard line against Russia ever since the poisoning of former spy Sergei Skripal in Salisbury, England, an attack British intelligence claims was likely ordered at the highest levels of the Russian government. Williamson said the U.K. would like to see the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty preserved, but that both parties need to meet the INF's requirements in order for it to be effective.