Of all possessions a friend is the most precious.
Herodotus

By Azra Isakovic

Monday, April 19, 2021

Good morning

Welcome to Your Monday Briefing

Featured

France/Sahel – Philanthropic Imperialism, Stephen W. Smith | London Review of Books

‘Opening up a theatre of war is often easier than closing it down: like the US in Afghanistan, France is groping for an exit from a war of its own making.’

Stephen W. Smith on France’s grand plan for the Western Sahel:https://t.co/syYYyIUWTF pic.twitter.com/rdMYtrKQFa

— London Review of Books (@LRB) April 16, 2021

Books

Books interview –Laurent Binet: ‘In France, I just feel like we are lost in space’, Alex Preston | Guardian Books
About – Louis Menand : “The Free World: Art and Thought in the Cold War,” by Marc Tracy | The New York

I wrote about Luke Menand and his big (in multiple senses!) new book, The Free World https://t.co/HMTghljih6

— marc tracy (@marcatracy) April 18, 2021

Must-Reads

Guaranteed Work –Does it make sense to question the morality of capitalism? Laura Pennacchi  | Social Europe
Financial News – China Officially Backs A Crypto Currency And Establishes It As Their Official Coin,  Shen Haixiong | Forbes
UK –Understanding Britain’s New Strategic Outlook  Ryan Evans | War on the Rocks
Ukraine/Russia – Why All-Out Ukraine-Russia War Is Unlikely  Liana Semchuk | The Conversation
US/China – Did China Simulate Attack on U.S. Carrier?  Stephen Silver | 1945
US – America’s Come-From-Behind Pandemic Victory  Hal Brands | Foreign Policy
China – Can China’s New Trade Strategy Hit the Right Buttons?  Wang Yong | EA Forum
Jordan –Inside Jordan’s royal crisis: why the prince turned to tribal leaders for support, Mehul Srivastava and Andrew England | FT
Economy – Forget identity politics: economics is what matters now, Simon Kuper | FT Weekend Magazine

‘You can oppose Biden’s bills. But that’s the debate that matters. To obsess about tweets and culture wars now is intellectually dishonest’: @KuperSimon on why it’s the economy, stupid https://t.co/sKoYglZvXj

— FT Weekend Magazine (@FTMag) April 16, 2021

Research & Analysis

China/Foreign Policy – What Do Overseas Visits Reveal about China’s Foreign Policy Priorities? | CSIS
US/EU/Economy – The US proposals on digital services taxes and minimum tax rates: How the EU should respond, Zach Meyers | Centre for European Reform
COVID-19/Recover – To recover from COVID-19, downtowns must adapt, Tracy Hadden Loh Joanne Kim | Brookings

Most people don't work in offices. And with the suburbanization of jobs, do office work trends matter to cities? @joanne_m_kim and I took a look at the data to diagram the magnitude, map, and direction of office trends and the answer is: YIKES, YES!https://t.co/ymP1OcaOke

— Tracy Hadden Loh (@lohplaces) April 15, 2021

Podcasts

How did the Iraq catastrophe happen?

Hosted by award-winning reporter Noreen Malone, the fifth season of Slow Burn explores the people and ideas that propelled the country into the Iraq war, and the institutions that failed to stop it.