France

September Briefing #2

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 “I’m of the opinion that it’s okay to be silent, to not speak if you don’t have anything to say.”
Cate Blanchett


By Azra Isakovic

Tuesday, Sept. 21, 2021

Good Afternoon

Welcome to Your September Briefing #2

Featured

Chine – Les opérations d’influence chinoises – Un moment machiavélien, Paul Charon et Jean-Baptiste Jeangène Vilmer | IRSEM – RAMH | IRSEM

Books

UK – The Rise and Fall of the British Nation. A Twentieth-Century History, David Edgerton | Penguin Books
Neoliberalism – Market Civilizations, Quinn Slobodian & Dieter Plehwe | Zone Books | Princeton University Press
Neoliberalism – The Triumph of Broken Promises: The End of the Cold War and the Rise of Neoliberalism, Fritz Bartel | Harvard University Press

Must-Reads

France – Miroir, mon beau miroir, dis-moi si je suis encore une grande puissance? Jean-Do Merchet | l’Opinion
China – China’s ’Dual Cycle’ development model and the digital revolution, Emily de La Bruyere | Hinrich Foundation
China – Is Evergrande « China’s Lehman moment »? by Adam Tooze
Europe – ‘Brussels as the new Moscow’ | International Politics & Society
Aukus – The new Australia, UK, and US nuclear submarine announcement | Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
Aukus – Is the AUKUS alliance meaningful or merely provocation? | Chatham House
Aukus – The Observer view on Anglo-French relations, Observer editorial | The Guardian
Aukus – Making waves in the Pacific: how Boris Johnson’s Global Britain went rogue, Simon Tisdall | The Guardian
Economy – How and why the idea of a national economy is radical, David Edgerton [PDF]  
UK – L’ascension, la chute… et l’éclatement de la nation britannique ?  ITW de David Edgerton, Louis de Catheu | GEG
Europe – Europe’s reputation as a cosmopolitan haven has been exposed as a mirage, Hans Kundnani | The Guardian

Research & Analysis

Global – Global Catastrophic – Risks 2021: Navigating the Complex Intersection | Global Challenges Foundation
UK/China – The UK and China’s security and trade relationship: A strategic void. | UK Parliament
EU/US/China : Hybrid Multilateralism and the Limits of Prioritizing Values, Kerry Brown | GlobalSummitry

Podcasts

Is A Cold War With China Inevitable? Kerry Brown with Owen Jones 

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 Thursday Briefing

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« A paranoid man is a man who knows a little about what’s going on. » William S. Burroughs


By Azra Isakovic

Thursday April 1, 2021

Good morning

Welcome to Your Thursday Briefing

Featured


COVID-19/Vaccine –Here’s how to get billions of COVID-19 vaccine doses to the world Chad P. Bown & Thomas J. Bollyky | Peterson Institute

Books

Ayn Rand – I Have Come to Bury Ayn Rand  David Sloan Wilson | Nautilus
Review –  Investing With Keynes  Philip Delves Broughton | The Wall Street Journal

Must-Reads

France –Macron Returns France to Lockdown as Vaccinations Lag, by Norimitsu Onishi and Constant Méheut | The New York Time
France/Defense – The French armed forces are planning for high-intensity war | The Economist
Germany/Health – ‘We are a laughing stock’: Covid-19 and Germany’s political malaise, Guy Chazan | Financial Times
Suez – On the Suez Canal and Chokepoints  George Friedman | Geopolitical Futures
US/Army – U.S. Army Goes to School on Nagorno-Karabakh  Jack Detsch | Foreign Policy
India – India Has a Stake in Myanmar  Pratap Bhanu Mehta | Indian Express
Cyberworld Order – Russia and China Try to Rewrite the Cyberworld Order  David Ignatius | WaPo
Russia/Italy – Russian Spy Case Escalates in Italy  | RFERL
Pakistan/India – Another Tactical Thaw in Pakistan-India Relations  Aryaman Bhatnagar |  WPR
China/EU – China’s New Bogeyman: Europe  Stuart Lau | Politico EU
US – The U.S. Cannot Be Choosy About Its Allies  Janan Ganesh | Financial Times
US/MBS – A Wiser U.S. Check on MBS’s Power  F. Gregory Gause III | Foreign Affairs
EU/Trade – Europe and the Prospects for WTO Reform, Jennifer Hillman and Alex Tippett | CFR
US –Biden unveils $2tn infrastructure plan and big corporate tax rise, James Politi | Financial Times

Research & Analysis

Disinformation – Critical Disinformation Studies | unc_citap
Europe/Deterrence – Europe’s Evolving Deterrence Discourse, Amelia Morgan and Anna Peczeli, eds. | LLNL /King’s College/SAIC
EU – The power surplus, Ignacio Garcia Bercero and Kalypso Nicolaidis | CEPS
UK/Digital – Why The Government’s Integrated Defence Review Risks Sounding Like “Cyber-Rattling”, Ciaran Martin | Prospect/forum.eu

Podcasts

Enjeux Internationaux – Le Sri Lanka, théâtre de la rivalité Inde/Chine, Julie Gacon et Raphaëlle Khan | France Culture

France/Defense – The French armed forces are planning for high-intensity war | The Economist

Atlas Hugged – David Sloan Wilson talks about his new book | Simpol

Your Wednesday Briefing

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J’ai réinventé le passé pour voir la beauté de l’avenir.
Louis Aragon.


By Azra Isakovic

Wednesday, March 31

Good morning

Welcome to Your Wednesday Briefing

Featured

In honour of David Graeber – Free us from the Roving Cavaliers of Credit, Steve Keen | Brave New Europe

Books

À propos de : « Sociologie historique du capitalisme » | La Decouverte, par Hervé Joly | La Vie des idées
Book Review –Heterodox Challenges in Economics Sergio Cesaratto, by M. D. Rose | Brave New Europe
Book Review –Claremont’s Constitutional Crisis, R. Shep Melnick | Law & Liberty
Review – Work Won’t Love You Back Sarah Jaffe | Hurst Publishers, by Marzena Zukowska

Must-Reads

WHO/Covid19 –Joint Statement on the WHO-Convened COVID-19 Origins Study | United States Department of State
Covid19 – The Fourth Surge Is Upon Us. This Time, It’s Different, by Zeynep Tufekci | The Atlantic
China/Russia – An Alliance of Autocracies? China Wants to Lead a New World Order, Steven Lee Myers | The New York Times
Russia/China/US – Here’s How Russia and China Are Helping the U.S., by Yasmeen Serhan | The Atlantic
EU/US/China –The Fragility of Europe’s China Strategy, Adam Tooze | Internationale Politik Quarterly
Germany – Stepping Into the 21st Century, Thierry de Montbrial | Internationale Politik Quarterly
US/India – Unresolved Questions in U.S.-India Relations  Anita Inder Singh | Lowy Institute
EU/US – Why the EU Is Still Wary of America  | Economist
China/Cyberspace – Did China Cross a Red Line in Cyberspace?  M. Montgomery & T. Logan | SG
US/Iran/China – How U.S. Pushed China & Iran Together  Amir Handjani | Responsible Statecraft
US/Russia/China – A Second Cold War Is Tracking the First  Gideon Rachman | Financial Times
France – The Paris Commune Lives On in French Politics  Robert Zaretsky | Foreign Affairs
US/Russia – No Emotions or Illusions: The Future of U.S.-Russian Relations, Dmitri Trenin | Carnegie Moscow Center

Research & Analysis

EU –Is there a populist foreign policy? Angelos Chryssogelos | Chatham House
US/EU/Digital – How to Build Back Better the Transatlantic Data Relationship, Nigel Cory and Ellyse Dick | ITIF
US/Cina – The Case for Legislation to Out-Compete China, Robert D. Atkinson | ITIF
China/EU/US/Climate –China, EU and US cooperation on climate and energy, Antony Froggatt and Daniel Quiggin | Chatham House

Podcasts

Surveillance numérique –  Géopolitique de la surveillance numérique | France Culture

Your Thursday Briefing

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What we need is to use what we have. – Susan Sontag


By Azra Isakovic

Thursday, February 25

Good morning

Welcome to Your Thursday Briefing

Books

France – À la ligne de Joseph Ponthus | Editions Table Ronde
France – La guerre des mots par Nicolas Framont, Selim Derkaoui, Antoine Glorieux | éditions le passager clandestin
US/China – The Great Decoupling by Nigel Inkster | Hurst Publishers

Must-Reads

EU – Chartbook Newsletter #13  by Adam Tooze
Khashoggi report – Biden set to call Saudi king, by HansNichols | Axios
Russia/Turkey – The biggest geopolitical shake-ups since the end of the cold war | The Economist
BigTech – Facebook and Australia both claim victory | The Economist
Capitalisme – Ce que le règne de McKinsey et des cabinets de conseil nous dit, par Nicolas Framont | Frustration magazine
US – ‘Great Power Competition’ is a Dangerously Simple Frame, C. Anthony Pfaff | Defense One
US/Defense/Europe/Africa – US to push troop synchronisation between Europe and Africa commands, Alexandra Brzozowski | Euractiv
Europe/China – China Faces European Obstacles as Some Countries Heed U.S. Pressure, Daniel Michaels and Valentina Pop | The Wall Street Journal

Research & Analysis

Tech Future – Improving Social Media | Scribd
Europe/Defense – Collective Collapse or Resilience? European Defense Priorities in the Pandemic Era, Corentin Brustlein (ed.) | IFRI
Africa – A Post-Covid-19 Reset: The Future of Africa’s Foreign Partnerships, By Judd Devermont | CSIS

Podcasts

Joseph Ponthus : « L’usine a enlevé tout le gras de mes textes » | France Culture
Joseph Ponthus – À la ligne : feuillets d’usine  | YouTube

Your Wednesday Briefing

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    Without words, without writing and without books there would be no history, there could be no concept of humanity.
Hermann Hesse


By Azra Isakovic

Wednesday, February 10

Good morning

Welcome to Your Wednesday Briefing

Books

Top 5 Books: February 2021 by Krisztina Csortea | International Affairs
Deaths of Despair and the Future of Capitalism | Princeton University Press
Solzhenitsyn – Solzenitsyn and the Engine of History  Robert D. Kaplan | The New Criterion

Must-Reads

US/France – France Sees an Existential Threat From U.S. Campuses  Norimitsu Onishi | NYT
Netherlands – The next stage of Dutch populism? | International Politics & Society
Health/Digital – Coronavirus accelerates contactless travel, raising privacy concerns, Mari Eccles | Politico
Digital – Digital reckoning? The Biden administration and prospects for greater transatlantic alignment on digital competition, Miranda Lutz and Max van Thun | Global Counsel
Digital/Europe – Referees don’t win games: Europe and the digital great game, José I. Torreblanca | ECFR
Digital/Russia – Russia is trying to set the rules for the Internet. The UN saw through the ruse, David Ignatius | The Washington Post
Germany/Russia – Dead-end pragmatism: Germany’s Russia strategy after Merkel, Gustav Gressel | ECFR
France – France’s Vanishing Center, Patrick Chamorel | American Purpose
EU –  Lessons from the battleground: EU strategic autonomy after the ‘vaccine wars’, Ricardo Borges de Castro | European Policy Centre
Belarus – Why the Belarusian Revolution Has Stalled, Ryhor Astapenia | Chatham House
Japan – Taiwan Looms Over Japan’s Security Concerns  Brad Glosserman | Japan Times
China – From China Fantasy to China Nightmare  Ian Easton | Taipei Times
George Schultz – George Schultz Understood Money Was Power  Hal Brands | Bloomberg
U.S. Foreign Policy –  When Is U.S. Foreign Policy Strongest?  Robert Kaplan | Time
Biden/Middle East – Measuring Biden’s First Middle East Moves  George Friedman | Geopolitical Futures

Research & Analysis

Cheap Talk- China’s Central Bank Still Struggles to Speak to Markets | CSIS
Myanmar –  Myanmar’s generals recoup: The recurrence of military-defined “disciplined democracy”, Bart Gaens | FIIA PDF

Podcasts

Covid, saison 3 (2/4) – Restrictions sanitaires : les limites de l’acceptation sociale | France Culture

Your Monday Briefing

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Democracy is being allowed to vote for the candidate you dislike least.

Robert Byrne


By Azra Isakovic

Jan. 18, 2021

Good morning

Welcome to Your Monday Briefing

Books

#Livres 📚/#Recension – Open Democracy. Reinventing Popular Rule for the Twenty-First Century, Hélène Landemore,  Princeton University Press, | À la recherche d’une représentation démocratique par Éric Buge |  La Vie des idées
Books – Managing Transition: The First Post-Uprising Phase in Tunisia and Libya by Sabina Henneberg | Cambridge Core
Review of Books – The Limits of Caste Hazel V. Carby | London Review of Books
Review of Books  – Cynical Realism – Randall Kennedy on the biases of the Supreme Court | London Review of Books

Must-Reads

US – The Normalization of the Post-Sept. 11 Regime, by Stephen I. Vladeck | Tablet Magazine
Brexit – A look at Swiss politics shows that Euroskepticism is in the United Kingdom to stay, by Joseph de Weck | Foreign Policy
Europe/France/Germany – When Opposites Don’t Attract, by Joseph de Weck | Internationale Politik Quarterly
The Biden Transition – To Understand This Chaotic Transition, Rewind to the Last One | The New York Times
The Biden Transition – A Former Marine Stormed the Capitol as Part of a Far-Right Militia | The New Yorker
China/EU – Hungary Welcomes EU’s First Chinese University Campus | The Voice of America
Turkey – Erdogan’s great game: Turkey pushes into Africa with aid, trade and soaps |  Financial Times
Ideas – The Conservative Cult of Victimhood Trump was a perpetrator who thought himself a victim, and American society has indulged that same illusion among Trump supporters. David Frum | The Atlantic

Research & Analysis

#China🇨🇳/ The New Challenge of Communist Corporate Governance | CSIS  PDF 📥
EU/ROK – Consultations Resilience and Trust in Cyberspace | German Marshall Fund
Turkey🇹🇷 – Is Polarization Turkey’s Fate? By Emre Erdoğan @urbanhobbit | German Marshall Fund

Movies

Movies – The Movies That Mattered in 2020 by Anthony Lane | The New Yorker
Movies/Reviews – “Dear Comrades!” Is Andrei Konchalovsky’s Masterpiece, by Anthony Lane | The New Yorker

Your Friday Briefing

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Lying is an elementary means of self-defense ~ Susan Sontag


By Azra Isakovic
Jan. 8, 2021

Good morning

Welcome to your Friday briefing

Books

Books – Underground Asia – Global Revolutionaries and the Assault on Empire, by Tim Harper | Harvard University Press
Book Review – Deplorable, yourself, by Isaac William Martin | Books & Ideas
Book Review: White Trash: The 400-Year Untold History of Class in America by Nancy Isenberg | LSE USAPP blog

Must-Reads

Capitol Hill – The Peril the U.S. Faces  International Crisis Group
Capitol Hill – Mike Davis, Riot on the Hill New Left Review
Capitol Hill – The storming of Capitol Hill was organized on social media by Sheera Frenkel | New York Times
Capitol Hill – Amid a transfer of power, Trump supporters break into Capitol – Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
Capitol Hill – Trump Told Crowd ‘You Will Never Take Back Our Country With Weakness’, by Maggie Haberman | New York Times
Russia – Russia’s Northern Fleet Upgraded  Roger McDermott, Jamestown
EU – With UK Gone, Smaller Nations Fight EU Integration  William Nattrass, CapX
Biden – What’s Next for Foreign Aid Under Biden?  Kristen Cordell, Council on Foreign Relations
Israel/Iran – Is This the Year Israel and Iran Go to War?  Seth Frantzman, 1945
France – France a Post-Imperial Power Seeking a Role  Philip Stephens, Financial Times
Russia – Russia’s Northern Fleet Upgraded to military District Status, Roger McDermott, The Jamestown 
EU/Russia – The EU in Action: Russia, Sarah Pagung, Internationale Politik Quarterly  
EU/Middle East/North Africa –The EU in Action: The Middle East and North Africa, Florence Gaub, Internationale Politik Quarterly 
EU/Turkey – The EU in Action: Turkey, Günter Seufert, Internationale Politik Quarterly 

Research & Analysis

US/China/Russia – The Biden Transition and U.S. Competition with China and Russia: The Crisis-Driven Need to Change U.S. Strategy, Anthony H. Cordesman with the assistance of Grace Hwang, CSIS
Arctic/Nuclear – Strategic Stability and Competition in the Arctic, Rebecca Hersman, Eric Brewer, and Maxwell Simon, CSIS
China/Central and Eastern Europe – Huawei in Central and Eastern Europe: Trends and Forecast, Ivana Karásková, ed., Association for International Affairs Prague
Arctic – Climate Change and the Opening of the Transpolar Sea Route: Logistics, Governance, and Wider Geo-economic, Societal and Environmental Impacts, Kristina Spohr and Daniel S. Hamilton, editors, Jason Moyer, associate editor 

Podcasts

Capitol Hill – Après l’assaut du Capitole, Donald Trump accepte enfin de quitter la Maison Blanche | France Culture

      

   


Your Thursday Briefing

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A week is a long time in politics. – Harold Wilson


By Azra Isakovic

Jan. 7, 2021

Good morning.

Welcome to your Thursday briefing

Books

Books – The Paranoid Style in American Politics, By Richard Hofstadter |  Harper’s Magazine
Books – Charisma and Disenchantment | Books at NYRB
Books – The 10 Best Books of 2020 | New York Times Books
Books – Three New Books on the Predigital Technologies That Shaped Our World | New York Times Books

Must-Reads

US/Digital – The U.S. Failed to Execute Its Cyberstrategy—and Russia Pounced, Rob Knake, Foreign Affairs 
US/EU/Defense – The EU is the Military Ally the US Needs, Max Bergmann, Foreign Affairs 
Europe – Europe’s Geopolitical Moment, Daniela Schwarzer, Internationale Politik Quarterly 
EU – The EU’s Double Bind, Mark Leonard, Internationale Politik Quarterly 
EU/Climate – Flexing the Regulatory Muscle, Noah J. Gordon, Internationale Politik Quarterly  
EU/UK – EU-UK Relations: Time for a ‘New Normal’ post-Brexit, Richard G Whitman, Chatham House 
EU/China – With China deal, EU leaves the hard part to Washington, Dalibor Rohac, Politico 
France/EU – The lonely leader: The origins of France’s strategy for EU foreign policy, | ECFR
Europe/China – Watching China in Europe – January 2021, Noah Barkin, GMF  
NATO – NATO plans space center to counter Russia, China satellite threats, Joshua Posaner, Politico 
US/Turkey – Biden and Erdogan Are Trapped in a Double Fantasy, Asli Aydintasbas and Jeremy Shapiro, Foreign Policy 
Germany Ponders a Post-Merkel Shift on China  Erika Solomon & Guy Chazan, FT
Britain Returns to Its Past George Friedman, Geopolitical Futures
Is America Ready for an Asian NATO?  Douglas Bulloch, 1945
What Does Vietnam Want From U.S. in South China Sea?  D. Grossman, Diplomat
European Elections to Watch in 2021  Emma Anderson, Politico EU
What We Can Do to Expose China’s Abuses  Daniel Finkelstein, Times of London

 

Research & Analysis 

US/China – Deglobalisation in the context of United States-China decoupling, Alicia García-Herrero and Junyu Tan, Bruegel
EU – Rethinking EU Leadership in the “Neighbourhood”: Limits and Ambitions | IAI 
Arctic – Governance and Economic Challenges for the Global Shipping Enterprise in a Seasonally Ice-Covered Arctic Ocean, Lawson W. Brigham,  in Kristina Spohr and Daniel S. Hamilton, editors, Jason Moyer, associate editor

Podcasts

Biden Transition – États Unis : l’impossible passation de pouvoir ? Avec Romain Huret et Hubert Vedrine | France Culture
France Culture – Jacques Prévert ou l’amour de la vie (3/4) :  Prévert engagé – et ami | France Culture

Your Thursday Briefing – Votre briefing du jeudi, par Azra Isakovic

/ Azra Isakovic / 2 Commentaires

Le secret d’une autorité, quelle qu’elle soit, tient à la rigueur inflexible avec laquelle elle persuade les gens qu’ils sont coupables ~ Raoul Vaneigem


Azra Isakovic

Dec. 10, 2020

Good Morning

Here’s what you need to know – Voici ce que vous devez savoir

US/China – About Beijing’s Influence With the Biden Administration – Professor Di Dongsheng says China’s close ties to Wall Street and its dealings with Hunter both enable it to exert more power now than it could under Trump. | Glenn Greenwald

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China/Vaccine – U.A.E. is first to approve Chinese vaccine . By Sui-Lee Wee | The New York Times

US – Why I Chose Lloyd Austin as Secretary of Defense, Joe Biden, The Atlantic

UK/Finance – Future of the City: how London’s reach will shrink after Brexit, Jonathan Ford, Financial Times 

US/EU – What is Europe’s ‘Once-in-a-Generation’ Offer to America? Bart M.J. Szewczyk, Foreign Policy

EU/France – The Risks Behind Macron’s Paris Consensus, Shahin Vallée, DGAP

EU/Turkey – Turkey, the EU and the Eastern Mediterranean Crisis, Sinem Adar, Ilke Toygür, SWP 

Energy – Energy Transitions in Emerging Economies, Nikos Tsafos and Lachlan Carey, CSIS   

Digital/EU/US – Why Schrems II requires US-EU agreement on surveillance and privacy, Joshua P. Meltzer, Brookings

EU/US –What Is Europe’s ‘Once-in-a-Generation’ Offer to America? Bart M.J. Szewczyk, Foreign Policy 

Germany – Merkel’s Last Chance  Jan-Werner Mueller, Project Syndicate

China/India – A Fresh Look at China-India Standoff  Daniel Balazs, The Diplomat

France/Turkey – ‘Islamism’ at the heart of France’s hostility towards Turkey, by Jean-Do Merchet | l’Opinion

TechPolicy/AI_Ethics – The coming war on the hidden algorithms that trap people in poverty, by Karen Hao  | MIT Technology Review

#Technology/ The promise of the fourth industrial revolution | MIT Technology Review PDF 📥