Axios

By the time China's ambitions of displacing the U.S. as the dominant global power were widely understood, Beijing's success had already begun to feel inevitable.

Why it matters: The Chinese Communist Party has exploited America's desire to "sleep through difficulties," writes Jonathan Ward in the new book, "China's Vision of Victory." He contends that the outcome of the battle for global supremacy remains to be determined, but that the U.S. must quickly and dramatically change course in order to prevail.

The Trump administration today designated Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a foreign terrorist organization (FTO), the first time the U.S. has applied that label to an element of a foreign government.

Secretary Mike Pompeo escalated the Trump administration’s maximum pressure campaign on Iran with his announcement that the State Department would add Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to its Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) list on April 15.

Why it matters: The FTO designation builds on the existing web of U.S. penalties against the IRGC — which has spawned and backed countless proxies and militias in the Middle East and carried out or supported terrorist actions on several continents — and makes it even harder to do business with individuals or companies tied to the group.

Yujing Zhang, the Chinese woman charged with illegally entering President Trump's Mar-a-lago club in Florida last month, appeared at a detention hearing in Florida on Monday, CNN reports.

Details: Prosecutors searched Zhang's hotel room after she was caught at Mar-a-lago with 4 cell phones, a laptop, an external hard drive and a USB stick laced with malware. They found another cell phone, 9 USB drives, 5 SIM cards, a signal detector used to reveal hidden cameras, and thousands of dollars in cash. Prosecutors said Zhang "lies to everyone she encounters" and has no ties to anyone in the U.S.

Representatives from the E3 — the U.K., France and Germany — sent a letter last week to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres asking him to “report fully and thoroughly on Iranian ballistic missile activity.”

The big picture: The group's request follows recent developments in Iran's ballistic missile program, including the inauguration of two upgraded missile platforms and a failed satellite-launch vehicle test. This effort broadens the focus on the Iranian missile threat to encompass future intentions — especially around nuclear-capable systems — and provides a new vector for joint U.S. and European pressure.

The Trump administration has designated Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a foreign terrorist organization.

Why it matters: The Monday announcement, which marks the first time the U.S. has designated an element of a foreign government as a terrorist entity, is a further sign that the Trump administration will use any tool at its disposal to inflict pain on the Iranian regime. The pressure campaign has kicked into overdrive since President Trump pulled the U.S. out of the Iran nuclear deal last May.

Trump administration officials expect to announce on Monday that the State Department will designate Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a foreign terrorist organization (FTO). The Wall Street Journal first reported this expected move — the latest in Trump's "maximum pressure" campaign against the Iranian regime.

Why this matters, per the Journal: "The decision ... would mark the first time that an element of a foreign state has been officially designated a terrorist entity." (The IRGC is an important element within Iran's armed forces.)

It's crunch week. Britain is due to leave the EU without any kind of deal on Friday — an outcome only the most extreme Brexiteers want.

Between the lines: Irish taoiseach Leo Varadkar summed up the sentiment on Friday. “None of us want a no-deal next week," he said. "I know the UK doesn’t want it, and Europe doesn’t want it either.” At the same time, as the second deadline approaches (March 29 has already been and gone), Varadkar was adamant that "we don’t want to have a rolling cliff-edge" with extension after extension.