My religion is very simple. My religion is kindness.
Dalai Lama

By Azra Isakovic

Thursday, April 6, 2021

Good morning

Welcome to Your Thursday Briefing

Featured

Biden/Left – How Joe Biden tamed the left, by Annie Linskey, Jeff Stein and Ashley Parker | The Washington Post

Trump derided liberal leaders with racist slurs. Obama’s WH referred to progressive activists as “the professional left.”

Now Biden’s WH is embracing them fully. And some of their ideas. W/ @JStein_WaPo @AshleyRParker https://t.co/QAesJCdjVb

— Annie Linskey (@AnnieLinskey) April 4, 2021

Books

Biden – ‘Yesterday’s Man: The Case against Joe Biden’ by Branko Marcetic | Verso Books
Review – I need money, by Christian Lorentzen | London Review of Books
Nuclear Weapons – Restricted Data: The History of Nuclear Secrecy in the United States by Alex Wellerstein | Restricted Data

This week, my book — RESTRICTED DATA: The History of Nuclear Weapons in the United States — is officially launching! I'll be doing some online events this week, and some in early May, for those who are interested. https://t.co/TZxC20x3w3

— Alex Wellerstein (@wellerstein) April 5, 2021

Must-Reads

Russia/Ukraine – Are Russia and Ukraine Sliding Into War? By Maxim Samorukov | Carnegie Russia
Russia/Ukraine – Is Putin About to Launch a New Offensive?  Peter Dickinson | Atlantic Council
Indo-Pacific – How Franco-Australian Cooperation Can Help Stabilize the Indo-Pacific, by Pierre Morcos | War on the Rocks
US – Here’s What’s In President Biden’s $2 Trillion Infrastructure Proposal | NPR
China/Iran – How Much Will China-Iran Deal Change Middle East?  R. Dergham | The National
Africa – Does ISIS-DRC Even Exist?  Robert Flummerfelt & Judith Verweijen | African Arguments
Europe/Health – Europe’s third wave: ‘It’s spreading fast and it’s spreading everywhere’ | Financial Times
Disruptive Technologies – Meet the future weapon of mass destruction, the drone swarm, Zachary Kallenborn | Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
NATO – NATO’s focus on China is too narrow, Hans Binnendijk | Defense News
Nuclear Weapons – Why is the United Kingdom raising its nuclear stockpile limits? Matthew Harries | Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
Hungary/EU – To the Viktor Go the Spoils, Milan Nič and Julian Rappold | DGAP
Taiwan – A Taiwan Tripwire  Loren Thompson | Forbes
Indo-pacific – Charting a course through turbulent waters, by Cleo Paskal | Chatham House

In latest @ChathamHouse @TheWorldToday I cover the geostratgic fallout from the #IndoPacific rollercoaster ride of the past two years incl. Covid, Galwan, Hong Kong, BECA, Quad, China's punitive tariffs, Taiwan and more.

Thank you @aphilps – Godspeed.https://t.co/xBJP29SCIu

— Cleo Paskal (@CleoPaskal) April 1, 2021

Research & Analysis

US/Security – Interim National Security Strategic Guidance | The White House
EU/North Africa/Middle East – From Tectonic Shifts to Winds of Change in North Africa and the Middle East: Europe’s Role | IAI
Indo-Pacific – Indo-Pacific strategies, perceptions and partnerships – The view from seven countries, by Cleo Paskal | Chatham House

“Field research, round tables and face-to-face interviews in seven countries (including China) … uncovered shared internal divisions within the sample countries in how they perceive and engage with China.” https://t.co/xCrfw2hfh3 @ChathamHouse @CleoPaskal

— Australian Foreign Affairs (@AusForeign) April 4, 2021

Podcast

Entretien – «Rivals in arms» de Alice Pannier, par Sylvie Noël | RFI

Quels sont les contours de la coopération militaire entre Paris et Londres? Post Lancaster house, Lybie et brexit. Étude très fouillée de ⁦@AlicePannier⁩ dans «Rivals in arms»⁩ ⁦@IFRI_⁩ @McGillQueensUP⁩. Entretien sur ⁦@RFI⁩ https://t.co/l84SPb7ltd

— Sylvie Noël (@SvNol) April 3, 2021