Africa

Your Friday Briefing

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“You can do everything with bayonets, but you are not able to sit on them”
Otto Von Bismarck


By Azra Isakovic

Friday, April 30, 2021

Good morning

Welcome to Your Friday Briefing

Featured

Imperialism – The Enduring Legacy of Kwame Nkrumah, An interview with William Shoki, Benjamin Talton, Anakwa Dwamena | Tribune

Books

France/Afrique – Le piège africain de Macron, Antoine Glaser, Pascal Airault | Fayard
Review – The influence of the Soviet economic model and the lessons for China  Branko Milanovic | Global inequality
Review – Kubrick’s Human Comedy, Andrew Delbanco | The New York Review of Books

Must-Reads

US – Biden’s 100-day strategy: Under-promise and over-deliver, Elaine Kamarck | Brookings
US – The Biden 100-Day Progress Report | Foreign Policy
US/Germany – Joe Biden’s 100 Days of Solitude: How Germany is botching the transatlantic restart with the new US administration, Thomas Kleine-Brockhoff and Andrea Rotter | IPQ
Egypt – Is History Coming for Sisi’s Regime?  Robert Kaplan | Foreign Policy
India – India’s ‘Scenes From Dante’s Inferno’  Zarir Udwadia | Financial Times
China – The Hidden Weakness of China’s Military  Steve Sacks | The Diplomat
US/China – How to Fight a Maritime War Against China  James Holmes | 1945
India – India’s Covid Tsunami  Shashi Tharoor | Project Syndicate
China – China Grows Military Education Diplomacy in Cen. Asia  Erica Marat | PONARS
US/Taiwan/China – Washington Avoids Tough Questions on Taiwan and China  Charles Glaser | FA
Germany/Climate – ‘Historic’ German ruling says climate goals not tough enough, Kate Connolly | The Guardian
EU/China – The Belt and Road Initiative: Forcing Europe to Reckon with China? Jennifer Hillman and Alex Tippett | Council on Foreign Relations

Research & Analysis

Arms Control – The Future of Strategic Arms Control, Rebecca Lissner | Council on Foreign Relation
Digital/Security – Quantifying Risk: Innovative Approaches to Cybersecurity, Adam Bobrow | GMF
Health/Global – Pandemic preparedness and response: Beyond the WHO’s Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator, Kaushik Basu, Lawrence Gostin and Nicole Hassoun | Brookings
EU – The EU’s arms control challenge, Clara Portela | EUISS

Podcast

100 premiers jours de Biden – Joe Biden, le révolutionnaire qu’on n’attendait pas | L’Heure du Monde

Your Thursday Briefing

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There are no extraordinary men… just extraordinary circumstances that ordinary men are forced to deal with.
William Halsey


By Azra Isakovic

Thursday, April 29, 2021

Good afternoon

Welcome to Your Thursday Briefing

Featured

Review – Portrait of the philosopher as a young man, by Branko Milanovic | Global inequality

Books

Biography – “Karl Marx and the Birth of Modern Society”  Michael Heinrich | Monthly Review
Recension/Histoire – Histoires d’Algérie par Étienne Augris | La Vie des idées

Must-Reads

US/EU – A Transatlantic Tally, Katharina Emschermann | Internationale Politik Quarterly
Global – Strengthening the G-20 in an era of great power geopolitical competition, Colin I. Bradford | Brookings
UK – Can the UK be secure if Europe is not? The UK’s (un)Integrated Review, Ian Bond | Centre for European Reform
US/Corruption – Corruption Is a National Security Threat. The CROOK Act Is a Smart Way to Fight It. Senator Roger F. Wicker and Senator Ben Cardin | Just Security
Western Balkans  – The Balkans’ demons of ethno-nationalism, Ralf Melzer | IPS
China/Russia/Turkey – Relegating the “Russia Problem” to Turkey, Emil Avdaliani |  CEPA
Russia/India – Putin pledges medical aid to India in phone call with Modi | China Xinhua News
Climate change: What has Biden promised to do? And is it enough? Oliver Milman | Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
Secret agreements: How Frontex is helping to drag migrants back to Libyan torture camps | DER SPIEGEL
Biden’s First 100 Days – Has Biden Repaired Trust with the EU? Rosa Balfour | Carnegie Endowment
Biden’s First 100 Days – Has Biden Made the Right Calculation on Russia? Dmitri Trenin | Carnegie Endowment

Research & Analysis

EU – Strategic autonomy and the transformation of the EU: New agendas for security, diplomacy, trade and technology, Niklas Helwig et al. | Finnish Institute of International Affairs
China/Russia/Central and Eastern Europe – Partnership Without Substance: Sino-Russian Relations in Central and Eastern Europe, Bobo Lo and Edward Lucas | CEPA

Podcasts

Visioconférence – Annegret Kramp Karrenbauer, Ministre allemande de la Défense, 20 avril 2021 | Ifri/ Fondation Konrad-Adenauer

Your Monday Briefing

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To join in the industrial revolution, you needed to open a factory; in the Internet revolution, you need to open a laptop.
Alexis Ohanian


By Azra Isakovic

Monday, April 26, 2021

Good morning

Welcome to Your Monday Briefing

Featured

Neoliberalism –The politics of welfare Lois McNay, 2021 | SAGE Journals

Books

20 Years Later: 9/11 Anniversary Books By Liz Scheier | Publishers Weekly
The Things We Carry: 9/11 Anniversary Books, by Liz Scheier | Publishers Weekly
Climate – Overheated – How Capitalism Broke the Planet–And How We Fight Back, by Kate Aronoff @KateAronoff | Bold Type Books

Must-Reads

Germany/Russia – Germany’s Heiko Maas opposes tougher Russia sanctions | DW News
US/India – The case for US cooperation with India on a just transition away from coal | Brookings
US/China – China’s surprising drone sales in the Middle East, By: Bradley Bowman, Maj. Jared Thompson, and Ryan Brobst | Defense News
Hong Kong – ‘I Stand the Law’s Good Servant, but the People’s First’ | China File
Japan/Indo-Pacific –  Japan’s Indo-Pacific Moment, Elliot Waldman | World Politics
Chad – Chad facing hard choices as anxious allies ill-prepared | Chatham House
A glimpse of the future: The Ever Given and the weaponisation of choke-points, Filip Medunic | ECFR
Conservatism – The Two Crises of Conservatism, Ross Douthat | New York Times Opinion

Research & Analysis

Middle East – Steps to enable a Middle East regional security process, Sanam Vakil, Neil Quilliam | Chatham House
Taiwan – Can Taiwan have security & the good life? | Brookings
Energy – Global Energy Review 2021 | IEA

Podcasts

Les Enjeux internationaux – Joe Biden reconnaît le génocide arménien : comment peut réagir la Turquie ? par Julie Gacon | France Culture

Your Monday Briefing

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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

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

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

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

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.

Your Tuesday Briefing

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Poetry is a political act because it involves telling the truth.
June Jordan


By Azra Isakovic

Tuesday, April 13, 2021

Good morning

Welcome to Your Tuesday Briefing

Featured

Droits de l’homme –Pourquoi se souvenir de Srebrenica ? Florence Hartmann | Revue Esprit

Books

Russie – Un nouvel équilibre des pouvoirs: la Russie à la recherche d’un équilibre en matière de politique étrangère, Dmitri Trenin | Carnegie Russia
Review –Basic Urban Services in India: a Paradoxical Bricolage, by Hugo Ribadeau Dumas | Books & Ideas
Review – The Neglected Rights of the Disabled, by David Le Breton | Books & Ideas

Must-Reads

Europe/Asia-Pacific – Could Europe’s reemergence in Asia be a win-win this time? Richard Javad Heydarian, The National
US – Biden’s infrastructure plan replaces federal cynicism with a sweeping vision, Adie Tomer, Brookings
Ukraine – Conflict in Donbas: What Does Ukraine Stand to Gain? Sarah Lain, CEPA
Ukraine/Russia/US – On Ukraine’s doorstep, Russia boosts military and sends message of regional clout to Biden, Isabelle Khurshudyan, David L. Stern, Loveday Morris and John Hudson | The Washington Post
EU/Asia – Europe’s Re-Emergence in Asia: A Win-Win?  Richard Javad Heydarian | National
Germany – Söder Shakes Up German Succession  Guy Chazan | Financial Times
UK – England Prepares to Get Drunk  Cristina Gallardo | Politico EU
US/China – Side That Heals Itself First Will Win US-China Cold War  Huang Jing | Nikkei
US/Health – What America’s Vaccination Campaign Proves to the World, Anne Applebaum | The Atlantic
Afrique – ONU et mercenaires russes en Centrafrique : le pacte du silence ? | Centre Afrique subsaharienne

Research & Analysis

US/Central and Eastern Europe – 100 Days of Biden’s New Transatlantic Strategy – Where Does Central and Eastern Europe Stand? Danielle Piatkiweicz | Europeum
EU/China/Technology – Technological Competition: Can the EU Compete with China? Francesca Ghiretti | IAI
Digital – Internet from Space: How New Satellite Connections Could Affect Global Internet Governance, Daniel Voelsen | SWP

Podcasts

China’s Maritime Militia – Trouble in the South China Sea Ankit Panda | The Diplomat

Turquie – L’Europe se montre-t-elle trop faible face à la Turquie d’Erdoğan? Ariane Bonzon, Christophe Carron, Jean-Marie Colombani, Alain Frachon | SlatefrPodcasts

Your Monday Briefing

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“Absolute power demoralizes.”  Lord Acton


By Azra Isakovic

Monday, April 12, 2021

Good morning

Welcome to Your Monday Briefing

Featured

Big Tech – Meet the Professor Who’s Warning the World About Facebook and Google, Sarah Brown | The Chronicle of Higher Education

Books

Social Psychology – The Quick Fix: Why Fad Psychology Can’t Cure Our Social Ills Jesse Singal | Amazon
Nationalism – 100 Best Nationalism Books of All Time |  BookAuthority
Review – Are We Living in an Age of Strongmen? David A. Bell | The Nation

Must-Reads

EU – Brussels faces battle on new pan-EU revenue sources, Sam Fleming and Jim Brunsden | Financial Times
Europe – Les Capitales | EURACTIV France @EURACTIV_FR
Turquie/Italie – La Turquie suspend des contrats italiens à la suite de commentaires de Mario Draghi | EURACTIV France
Iran – Blackout Hits Iran Nuclear Site in What Appears to Be Israeli Sabotage By Ronen Bergman, Rick Gladstone and Farnaz Fassihi | The New York Times 
US/Iran/JCPOA – Hawks preview strategy to oppose Biden’s ‘woke’ Iran policy, Matthew Petti | Responsible Statecraft
Social Psychology –The False Promise of Quick-Fix, Jesse Singal | The Wall Street Journal
Essay – Philip, Prince of Nowhere Ed West | UnHerd
US – Crisis of Command Risa Brooks, Jim Golby et Heidi Urben | Foreign Affairs
Pandemic – The Gaslighting of Science by Zeynep Tufekci | Insight
UK Security Review – A Post Mortem of a Disintegrated Review, Jack Watling  | RUSI
US/Iran/JCPOA – For true JCPOA re-entry, Biden must tear down this sanctions wall, Tyler Cullis | Responsible Statecraft
Technology –Europe in the Geopolitics of Technology, Alice Pannier | Ifri

Research & Analysis

Japan/Africa – Japan’s Economic Diplomacy in Africa: Between Strategic Priorities and Local Realities, Céline Pajon | Ifri
EU/Defence – Europe’s Missile Defence and Italy: Capabilities and Cooperation, Alessandro Marrone, Karolina Muti | IAI
UK Security Review – Defence in a competitive age | GOV.UK
Iraq – 18 Years of Terror and Destruction, by Hannah Mulhern and Razan al-Shammari | GICJ
Russia/China/Arctic – Partners, Competitors, or a Little of Both?  Jim Townsend and Andrea Kendall-Taylor | CNAS

Podcasts

Political Economy – The future of capitalism, Branko Milanovic  | AEI Economics

Strongmen – Mussolini to Present | YouTube

Your Thursday Briefing

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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

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

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

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

Podcast

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

Your Tuesday Briefing

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There are two equalizers in life: the Internet and education. – John T. Chambers


By Azra Isakovic

Tuesday, March 23

Welcome to Your Tuesday Briefing

Featured

Essays – Geopolitics of a pandemic, by Helen Thompson | Engelsberg Ideas
Decarbonisation – Realism & Net-Zero: The EU Case Adam Tooze | Chartbook Newsletter #17


Books

About: Unsustainable Inequalities, by Adam Tooze | Dissent Magazine
Review – A Study of Edward Said, One of the Most Interesting Men of His Time, by Dwight Garner | New York Times Books
Clan/Power/UAE –  Reinventing the Sheikhdom, by Matthew Hedges | Hurst Publishers
Study – Places of Mind: A Life of Edward Said, By Timothy Brennan | Farrar, Straus & Giroux

Must-Reads

Decarbonisation – Europe’s decarbonisation challenge, by Adam Tooze | Social Europe
EU/China – China’s sanctions over EU officials and entities are justified | Global Times
EU/China – EU-China deal spells trouble for Macron at home, by Giorgio Leali | POLITICO Europe
US/France/Sahel – How France and the US can work to stabilise the Sahel | ECFR
UK – Britain’s global pipe dream | ECFR
Economy – The American Rescue Plan as Economic Theory, J. W. Mason | Brave New Europe
China/Thailand – Plan to establish joint MRO facility, by Jon Grevatt | Janes
Digital – Google chante le requiem pour les cookies, mais le grand chœur du pistage résonnera encore | Framasoft
Biden Administration – The Fury of a Superpower in Decline  Graham Fuller | Responsible Statecraft

Research & Analysis

Arms Transfers – Trends in international arms transfers, 2020 | SIPRI
US/Europe/China – The China Plan: A Transatlantic Blueprint, Hans Binnendijk and Sarah Kirchberger | Atlantic Council
US/Turkey/Security – A Dual Framework for the Turkey-U.S. Security Relationship, Şaban Kardaş and Özgür Ünlühisarcıklı, | German Marshall Fund  [PDF]

Podcasts

Climate –The Tragic Choices of Climate Change | Talking Politics | Acast

Decarbonisation –La neutralité carbone, c’est quoi | Ausha

Your Friday Briefing

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We should establish a chair for the teaching of reading between the lines.
Leon Bloy


By Azra Isakovic

Friday, March 19

Good morning

Welcome to Your Friday Briefing

Books

Health – The Next Shift : The Fall of Industry and the Rise of Health Care in Rust Belt America, Gabriel Winant | Harvard University Press
Philosophy – In the Shadow of Justice: Postwar Liberalism and the Remaking of Political Philosophy, by Katrina Forrester | Princeton University Press

Must-Reads

Health – The Rise of Healthcare in Steel City, Gabriel Winant | Dissent Magazine
Health/EU – Has the EU Lost Its Mind? Peter Franklin | UnHerd
Nuclear Risk – An existential discussion: What is the probability of nuclear war? By Martin E. Hellman, Vinton G. Cerf | Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
Vaccination –The Elephant In the Room: Herd Immunity via Tragedy | Zeynep Tufekci
US/Libya – The Libya Allergy, Colum Lynch | Foreign Policy
Mali conflict – ‘It’s not about jihad or Islam, but justice’ Patricia Huon | The Guardian
Europe – Is Denmark creating an inverted-Apartheid? Peter Franklin | UnHerd
US/Strategy – Humility in American Grand Strategy  Mathew Burrows & Robert Manning | WOTR
US/Africa – Understanding the New U.S. Terrorism Designations in Africa  | Crisis Group
Vaccine – Vaccine Suspense: Why Some Countries Are So Cautious  P. Treble | Maclean’s
Germany – Merkel’s CDU Mired in Scandal, Incompetence  Melanie Amann et al | Der Spiegel

Research & Analysis

Germany/US/China – Germany Between a Rock and a Hard Place in China-US Competition, Markus Jaeger | DGAP
US/EU/Technology – What’s Ahead for a Cooperative Regulatory Agenda on Artificial Intelligence? Meredith Broadbent | CSIS
US/Extremism – Domestic Violent Extremism Poses Heightened Threat in 2021 | Office of the Director of National Intelligence
EU/Counterterrorism – The Next Steps for EU Counterterrorism Policy, Raphael Bossong | SWP

Podcasts

Commune de Paris – Les damnés de la Commune, Raphaël Meyssan | ARTE
Histoire – Debout les damnés de la terre, destins de communards, par Xavier Mauduit | France Culture

Commune de Paris – Dernière révolution avant la République (4/4), par Perrine Kervran | France Culture

Commune de Paris – Les damnés de la Commune, Raphaël Meyssan | ARTE

Your Monday Briefing

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Ils pensaient que j’étais surréaliste, mais je ne l’ai jamais été. Je n’ai jamais peint de rêves, je n’ai peint que ma propre réalité. Frida Kahlo


By Azra Isakovic

Monday, March 15

Good morning

Welcome to Your Monday Briefing

Books

UK/Danubian Europe – Britain and Danubian Europe in the Era of World War II, 1933-1941, by Andras Becker | Palgrave Macmillan
Populism – Populism Michael Burleigh | Hurst Publishers
Diplomacy –Selling Weimar German Public Diplomacy and the United States, 1918–1933, Elisabeth Piller | GHI Washington

Must-Reads

Economy – Joe Biden’s stimulus is a high-stakes gamble for America and the world  | The Economist
Diplomatie – La diplomatie culturelle et la crise des 20 ans de l’Europe, par Benjamin G. Martin et Elisabeth Marie Piller | Contemporary European History
Philanthropie  – Dans la nébuleuse de la fondation Bill & Melinda Gates, Agnès Stienne | Visions carto
Russia/Libya – Russia on the Eve of a Collapse in Libya  Anton Mardasov & Kirill Semyonov | Riddle
Indo-Pacific – America’s Indo-Pacific Folly  Van Jackson | Foreign Affairs
Africa – What’s Going On in Senegal?  Christina Lu | Foreign Policy
Covid19 –How Many COVID Deaths Have Been Unnecessary?  Graham Allison | National Interest
Finance & Economics –Chartbook Newsletter #16 | Adam Tooze

Research & Analysis

US/Russia – The Future of U.S.-Russian Arms Control | CSIS  [PDF]
Macroeconomics –  Low interest rates in Europe and the US: one trend,  two stories, by Maria Demertzis and Nicola Viegi | Bruegel  [PDF]
US/China – Securing the Subsea Network, by Jonathan E. Hillman  | CSIS  [PDF]
Neoliberalism – Perfect Capitalism, Imperfect Humans: Race, Migration and the Limits of Ludwig von Mises’s Globalism, Quinn Slobodian | Contemporary European History | Cambridge Core [PDF]

Podcasts

Diplomacy – Selling Weimar German Public Diplomacy and the United States, 1918–1933, Dr. Elisabeth Piller | German Society of PA

Economy – Joe Biden’s stimulus is a high-stakes gamble for America and the world  | The Economist