Arctic

Your Wednesday Briefing

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“People never lie so much as after a hunt, during a war or before an election.”
Otto Von Bismarck


By Azra Isakovic

Wednesday, April 14, 2021

Good morning

Welcome to Your Wednesday Briefing

Featured

Inde – L’Inde🇮🇳 : une puissance singulière | Questions internationales – N° 106 | La Documentation française | [PDF]

Books

Taiwan – Difficult Choices Richard C. Bush | Brookings Institution Press

Must-Reads

Russia/Ukraine –War Alert: What’s Behind It and What Lies Ahead? Dmitri Trenin | Carnegie Russia
EU/China – The EU-China investment deal may be anachronic in a bifurcating world, Alicia Garcia Herrero | Bruegel
US – Biden’s Foreign Policy Starts At Home, Peter Nicholas | The Atlantic
EU/UK –UK goods trade with EU signals recovery, by Anna Tsaac | Politico
US/Russia – Nuclear arms control in the 2020s. Key issues for the US and Russia, Steven Pifer | Valdai Discussion Club
Russia/Ukraine – Penned in on Multiple International Issues, Putin Strives to Show Resolve on Ukraine, Pavel K. Baev | The Jamestown Foundation
Russia/Ukraine – Russia, Ukraine and the West: How do you solve a problem like Vladimir? Ian Bond | Centre for European Reform
US/Europe/China – Shifting Commercial Ties Among the U.S., Europe and China, Daniel S. Hamilton and Joseph P. Quinlan | Wilson Center
China – Some initial notes on China’s central bank digital currency | Bruno Maçães
EU-China –Comprehensive Agreement on Investment, Stewart Paterson |  Hinrich Foundation
Nord Stream 2 – Background, objections, and possible outcomes, Steven Pifer | Brookings Institution

Research & Analysis

Rebuild with purpose –  An affirmative vision for  21st century American  infrastructure, Adie Tomer, Joseph W. Kane, and Caroline George | Brookings Institution
China/EU – Is the European Union’s investment agreement with China underrated? Uri Dadush and Andre Sapir | Bruegel
Arctic – Northern expedition: China’s Arctic ambition and activism, RushDoshi, Alexis Dale-Huang, Gaoqi Zhang | Brookings Institution
Think tanks –How do think tanks react to or foster change? OTT Annual Review 2020-2021 | On Think Tanks

Podcasts

History Of Ideas –Nozick on Utopia | Talking Politics

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 Wednesday Briefing

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The EU’s Strategic Autonomy Trap | How ‘Maximum Pressure’ Failed Against Iran | The Uyghur Genocide: An Examination of China’s Breaches of the 1948 Genocide Convention | B-52s in the Middle East | Never Speak to Strangers and Other Writing from Russia and the Soviet Union


By Azra Isakovic

Wednesday, March 10 2021

Good morning

Welcome to Your Wednesday Briefing

Books

Philosophy – The Crisis of German Philosophy, by Graham Mcaleer  | Law & Liberty
Reviewed – Learning to Grieve, by Clair Wills | The New York Review of Books
Russia – Fear, Loathing, and Surrealism in Russia, by Emina Melonic | Law & Liberty

Must-Reads

EU – The EU’s Strategic Autonomy Trap by Richard Youngs | Carnegie Europe

US/Arctic – How the U.S. Can Win the Arctic  by Robert O’Brien & Ryan Tully, National Interest
Russia/China/US – A Russian-Chinese Partnership Against America?  by Charles Ziegler, National Interest
Israel – Israel Is the Arab World’s New Great Power  by Anchal Vohra | Foreign Policy
Africa – Uganda’s Election Re-Exposed Regional Faultlines  by L. Taylor & H. Matsiko | Afr. Arg.
Georgia Future – Georgia’s Democratic Future Is in Doubt  by Paul Stronski | World Politics Review
China – The Stories China Tells  by Jessica Chen Weiss | Foreign Affairs
US/ Middle East – B-52s in the Middle East by George Friedman | Geopolitical Futures
China/Middle East – The Role China Might Play in the Middle East  by James Dorsey | Responsible Statecraft
Iran/JCPOE – How ‘Maximum Pressure’ Failed Against Iran  | International Crisis Group

Research & Analysis

EU/Western Balkans – Slovenia, Serbia and an EU-Balkan breakthrough in 2021 | European Stability Initiative ESI
Economy – Strengthening the recovery: The need for speed. Interim Economic Outlook | OECD
China/Human Rights – The Uyghur Genocide: An Examination of China’s Breaches of the 1948 Genocide Convention, | New Lines Institute

Podcasts

Enjeux Internationaux – La justice brésilienne, indépendante ou opportuniste ?  Julie Gacon | France Culture

[PODCAST] 🎧

Quote of the day :
Everything becomes a little different as soon as it is spoken out loud. Hermann Hesse

Your Thursday Briefing

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We are not makers of history. We are made by history.
Martin Luther King, Jr.


By Azra Isakovic

Jan. 21, 2021

Good morning

Welcome to Your Thursday Briefing

Books

Samuel Beckett – The Wisdom of Surrender  Andy Wimbush, Aeon
Booksellers – Iconic Paris Bookshop Closes  Julia Webster Ayuso, The Guardian
LRB – Goodbye, Europe  Perry Anderson, London Review of Books
Postmodernism – Is Postmodernism Really Worthless?  Park MacDougald, Washington Examiner

Must-Read

US – Joe Biden’s Inauguration Speech Transcript, Washington Post
US – Donald Trump is Out. Are We Ready to Talk About How He Got In Ta-Nehisi Coates, The Atlantic 
US – What to Expect in Biden’s First 100 Days in Foreign Policy, Robbie Gramer, Amy Mackinnon, Jack Detsch, and Christina Lu, Foreign Policy   
US – Biden Wants to Unite the Country. How Can He Do It? Politico Magazine  
US – The Rebels Are Still Among Us, Anne Applebaum, The Atlantic   
Digital – 2021 Is the Year the Internet Gets Rewritten, Tyson Barker, Foreign Policy
Italy – Italy: No Political Crisis, But an Economic One, Valbona Zeleni, The Globalist
Russia – How to Contain Putin’s Russia, Michael McFaul, Foreign Affairs  
Health – Second report on progress, Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response, WHO
Health – Wealthy Countries Should Share Vaccine Doses Before It Is Too Late, Lawrence O. Gostin, Eric A. Friedman, and Suerie Moon, Foreign Affairs 
US/Afghanistan – Writing Off Afghanistan: Does Biden Have a Choice? Anthony H. Cordesman, CSIS

Research & Analysis

Digital – A U.S. Grand Strategy for the Global Digital Economy, Robert D. Atkinson, Information Technology and Innovation Foundation 
US/Europe/Technology – Artificial divide: How Europe and America could clash over AI, Ulrike Esther Franke, ECFR 

   

Podcast  

What does President Biden mean for the EU-US relationship? Dan Hamilton, Global Europe Unpacked 
Essential Geopolitics: China vs. Australia  Stratfor Worldview
4 Principles to Guide U.S. Policy Toward China  ChinaFile

 


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

      

   


Welcome to your Wednesday briefing

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Turn on to politics, or politics will turn on you. – Ralph Nader


Azra Isakovic

Wednesday January 6

Good Morning

Welcome to your Wednesday briefing

Books

Books – Fateful triangle: how China shaped US–India relations during the Cold War | Oxford Academic | International AffairsLivres – Et si la santé guidait le monde ? par Eloi Laurent | Les liens qui libèrent
Livres – Apocalypse cognitive, par Gérald Bronner | PUF
Livres – Sortir de la croissance, mode d’emploi, de Éloi Laurent par Étienne Espagne | La vie des idées

Must-Reads

China🇨🇳/HongKong🇭🇰 – Dozens of Hong Kong pro-democracy figures arrested in sweeping crackdown, by Helen Davidson | The Guardian
Mali🇲🇱 – Wedding guests killed in Mali airstrike, local sources say | The Guardian
EU-China – The Strategic Implications of the China-EU Investment Deal, By Theresa Fallon | The Diplomat
Russia/Baltic – Why the Baltics Behave As They Do Toward Russia, Kadri Liik | Carnegie Russia
Gulf States – Gulf States end blockade on Qatar, now the heavy lifting begins by Dr. Annelle Sheline | Responsible Statecraft
Health/US/Europe – Coronavirus Exposed that America Lacks Resilience, Andrew Michta, The National Interest, Andrew Michta, The National Interest
Europe/Africa/Health –How Europe can work with Africa amid the global scramble for vaccines, Theodore Murphy, European Council on Foreign Relations 
Health/Global – COVID-19 Could Undo Decades of Women’s Progress, Jamille Bigio, Kweilin Ellingrud, Mekala Keishnan, Anu Madgavkar, and Rachel Vogelstein, Foreign Affairs  
Bosnia and Herzegovina – Old tensions still alive in Bosnia 25 years after Dayton, Valerie Hopkins, Financial Times   
UK/EU – The great Brexit heist, Nick Witney, European Council on Foreign Relations  
Germany/China – What Merkel Really Thinks About China – and the World, Noah Barkin, Foreign Policy  
EU/China –Furor Over Europe’s Investment Agreement with China is Overblown, Julia Friedlander, National Interest 
Technology/China – Dealing with China on high-tech issues: Views from the US, EU and like-minded countries in a changing geopolitical landscape, Brigitte Dekker and Maaike Okano-Heijmans (eds.), Clingendael 
Russia/US – The Meddlers: Moscow’s and Washington’s Covert Campaigns, Angela Stent, Foreign Affairs 

Research & Analysis

Top Risks/2021 – Top Risks in 2021  Eurasia Group
Russia/EU – Neighborliness as a model for Russia-EU relations in 2030 by Dmitri Trenin | Moscow Carnegie Centre PDF
Arctic/Russia – Russia and the Development of Arctic Energy Resources in the Context of Domestic Policy and International Markets, Arild Moe, in Kristina Spohr and Daniel S. Hamilton, editors, Jason Moyer, associate editor,
Arctic –The Arctic and World Order, Johns Hopkins SAIS/Brookings Institution Press   

Podcasts

Economie/Santé –  L’économie d’un monde meilleur (1/3) : Santé ou croissance, l’heure du choix | France Culture

   

Votre briefing du jeudi

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Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly and applying the wrong remedies. Ernest Benn


Azra Isakovic

Bonjour,

Votre briefing du jeudi 17 décembre 2020

Europe🇪🇺– L’Europe dans le monde : pour une refondation, modeste et efficace, par Thierry de Montbrial | Ifri

US/Defense – Battle Force 2045: What It Is, Why It Matters  Brent Sadler, Heritage
Germany/Covid19 – Germany Says Goodbye to Frugality  Andreas Bock, ECFR
Africa/Ethiopia – Ethiopia Sinks Deeper Into Ethnic Conflict  Fritz Schaap, Der Spiegel
The Biden Transition – How Trump Rescued the ‘Blob’  Blaise Malley, The American Conservative
Think Tanks – Think Tanks as Platforms for Authoritarian Influence  NED

Investment Banking – Investment bankers revel in bumper fees from Chinese groups in 2020 | Financial Times

Technology – A.I. and I, Mark C. Taylor, New York Times 
Technology/Human Rights/EU – Getting the Future Right: Artificial Intelligence and Fundamental Rights, EU Agency for Fundamental Rights 
Technology/Human Rights/EU – Europe’s Approach to Artificial Intelligence: How AI Strategy is Evolving, Access Now
Nordics/Arctic – Surprise and Stability in the High North, Rachel Ellehuus, Johannes Gullestad Rø,  Robin Allers, Ingeborg Bjur, CSIS  
US/China/Japan – Japan’s Potential Contributions in an East China Sea | RAND Corporation

NATO/Black Sea – Strengthening NATO in the Black Sea Region, Ben Hodges, Foundation for the Defense of Democracies  
US/Black Sea – The Black Sea: How America can avoid a great-power conflict, Philip Breedlove and Michael E. O’Hanlon, Brookings 
Arctic – Shifting Ground: Competing Policy Narratives and the Future of the Arctic, Oran R. Young, in Kristina Spohr and Daniel S. Hamilton, editors, Jason

 

Your Wednesday Briefing / 16 December 2020

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One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors. – Plato


Azra Isakovic

16 December 2020

Good Morning

Here’s what you need to know

Arctic – The Arctic and World Order, | Johns Hopkins SAIS/Brookings Institution Press 

Digital/Russia/US – Hackers have vaulted into the heart of America’s government, The Economist 
Digital/EU – The Digital Services Act: ensuring a safe and accountable online environment, European Commission
Digital/EU ­– The Digital Markets Act: ensuring fair and open digital markets, European Commission 
Digital/EU – Putting digital services at the service of Europeans, Margrethe Vestager and Thierry Breton, Irish Times
US/Germany – Preserving America’s Military Posture in Germany, Bradley Bowman and Ben Hodges, Foundation for the Defense of Democracies
US/UK – The US-UK trade talks that Joe Biden inherits, Anna Isaac, Politico 
US/Eastern Mediterranean– American Interests in the Eastern Mediterranean, Eric Edelman and Aykan Erdemir, Foundation for the Defense of Democracies 
EU/US/Turkey/Russia – Peeling Turkey Away from Russia’s Embrace: A Transatlantic Interest, Nathalie Tocci, Istituto Affari Internazionali 
NATO/Russia – NATO-Russia Crisis Brief, Nuclear Crisis Group
US/Democracy – A Democracy Summit Is Not What the Doctor Ordered, James Goldgeier and Bruce W. Jentleson, Foreign Affairs 
EU/Democracy – EU still lacks a ‘silver bullet’ for bringing autocrats to heel, Ben Hall, Financial Times 
Bosnia and Herzegovina –Dayton at 25: Time for Effective and Functional Government in Bosnia, R. Bruce Hitchner, Balkan Insight 

Germany Fares Poorly in Second Wave of Coronavirus  Lukas Eberle et al, Spiegel
China Seems Ready for a Fight Over Taiwan  James Holmes, 1945
China’s Nationalists See a World Turning Their Way  Chris Buckley, New York Times
Maybe Brexit Isn’t So Bad After All  Tyler Cowen, Bloomberg
How the Brexit Fairy Tale Ends  Gavin Esler, The National
Measuring Soft Power  Margaret Seymour, FPRI

The Hidden Cost of Digital Consumption, by Halden Lin, Aishwarya Nirmal, Shobhit Hathi & Lilian Liang (Parametric Press 19/10)
US Indicts Sandworm, Russia’s Most Destructive Cyberwar Unit, by Andy Greenberg (Wired 19/10

Azra_Files : Your Tuesday Briefing Dec. 01, 2020

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Il faut organiser le pessimisme.

Pierre Naville

Good morning

Here’s what you need to know today

Brexit/ Some EU members are growing impatient on Brexit – Merkel By Reuters Staff

EU – Pandemic borrowing, Helen Thompson, Internationale Politik Quarterly  

US/France/Europe – Europe may cheer Biden’s win – But it threatens Macron’s grand project, Michele Barbero, Foreign Policy 

US/Economy – The crisis opportunity, Jason Furman, Foreign Affairs    

Russia/Arctic – Russia’s Arctic strategy through 2035, Janis Kluge and Michael Paul, SWP  

UK/Indo-Pacific – China and Brexit drive the UK’s ‘tilt’ to Indo-Pacific, Bill Hayton, Chatham House  

Bulgaria – Bulgaria joins Europe’s awkward squad, Valerie Hopkins and Michael Peel, Financial Times

Social democracy The culture war over the Istanbul Convention in East Central Europe  By Eszter Kováts | International Politics & Society

US/Economy – The crisis opportunity, Jason Furman, Foreign Affairs  

EU – The rule of law in the EU budget, Milan Nič, Roderick Parkes, Slawomir Sierakowski, and Shahin Vallée, DGAP

EU/Russia/Belarus – Belarus protests have explosive potential for EU-Russia relations, Arkady Moshes, Carnegie Moscow

China / Hong Kong Hong Kong’s Courts Are Still Independent. Some Want to Rein Them In. By Austin Ramzy | The New York Times

Syria/ Taking Stock: Five Years of Russia’s Intervention in Syria | Carnegie Europe