Episodes
21 hours ago
21 hours ago
Secretary of State Antony Blinken wraps his second visit to China as tensions mount over Beijing’s military support of Russia’s war in Ukraine and ongoing threats in the South China Sea; International Workers’ Day on May 1 comes at a time of revived labor activism over wages and inequality; and U.S. President Joe Biden approves a $61 billion foreign aid package providing critical military assistance to Ukraine, potentially improving the situation on the ground in the war with Russia.
Mentioned on the Podcast
“2023 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices,” Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, U.S. Department of State
“Global Military Spending Surges Amid War, Rising Tensions and Insecurities,” Stockholm International Peace Research Institute
Max Boot, “Weapons of War: The Race Between Russia and Ukraine,” CFR.org
For an episode transcript and show notes, visit The World Next Week at https://www.cfr.org/podcasts/blinken-visits-china-may-day-stirs-workers-rights-concerns-us-resumes-ukraine-aid-and-more
Thursday Apr 18, 2024
Thursday Apr 18, 2024
Concerns grow over the widening Middle East conflict after Iran launches three hundred ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and drones at Israel; European Union (EU) leaders discuss how to bolster aid to Ukraine amid an uptick in Russian attacks and the situation unfolding in the Middle East; India kicks off the world’s largest democratic election—spanning more than forty-four days—where the incumbent Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is expected to win again; and warming water temperatures cause a mass bleaching of coral reefs.
Mentioned on the Podcast
Steven A. Cook, “Iran Attack Means an Even Tougher Balancing Act for the U.S. in the Middle East,” CFR.org
“How India’s Imports of Russian Oil Have Lubricated Global Markets,” Economist
Andy Bounds, Laura Dubois, Christopher Miller, “Germany Urges Dozens of Allies to Send Air Defense Systems to Ukraine,” Financial Times
For an episode transcript and show notes, visit The World Next Week at: https://www.cfr.org/podcasts/aftermath-irans-attack-israel-eu-talks-ukraine-indias-massive-election-and-more
Thursday Apr 11, 2024
Congress’s Urgent Agenda, Sudan’s Year of War, Ecuador-Mexico Embassy Fray, and More
Thursday Apr 11, 2024
Thursday Apr 11, 2024
Congress returns from recess and grapples with contentious agenda items, including reauthorization of a section of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and a Ukraine aid package; Sudan enters a second year of civil war with more than half of the country’s population in need of aid and millions more displaced; and Ecuadorian police breach international law by raiding the Mexican embassy in Quito to arrest former Ecuadorian Vice President Jorge Glas.
Mentioned on the Podcast
Regina Garcia Cano and Gabriela Molina, “Mexico Severs Diplomatic Ties with Ecuador After Police Storm Its Embassy to Arrest Politician,” Associated Press
“Sudan Crisis Sends Shockwaves Around the Region as Displacement, Hunger, and Malnutrition Soar,” World Food Program
For an episode transcript and show notes, visit The World Next Week at: https://www.cfr.org/podcasts/congresss-urgent-agenda-sudans-year-war-ecuador-mexico-embassy-fray-and-more
Thursday Apr 04, 2024
Thursday Apr 04, 2024
Rwanda marks thirty years since its genocide against the Tutsis; U.S. President Joe Biden hosts the first trilateral leaders’ summit with Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio and Philippines President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.; music fans celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of Swedish pop group ABBA’s Eurovision win; and Ekrem İmamoğlu is elected mayor of Istanbul, in a rebuke to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s Justice and Development Party.
Mentioned on the Podcast
Eurovision Winners, Eurovision World
Frontline: Ghosts of Rwanda, PBS
Mariel Ferragamo, “Thirty Years After Rwanda’s Genocide: Where the Country Stands Today,” CFR.org
“Rwanda: Freedom in the World 2024,” Freedom House
“Three Decades After Rwanda’s Genocide, the Past is Ever-Present,” The Economist
When Abba Came to Britain, BBC
For an episode transcript and show notes, visit The World Next Week at: https://www.cfr.org/podcasts/rwanda-30-years-after-genocide-us-japan-philippines-summit-abbas-eurovision-legacy-and
Thursday Mar 28, 2024
Thursday Mar 28, 2024
The fallout after the UN Security Council adopted a resolution for an immediate cease-fire in the Gaza Strip and release of all hostages further reveals a growing strain between the United States and Israel; Russia reels from the ISIS-K terrorist attack on concertgoers near Moscow with Russian President Vladimir Putin deliberating how to respond; the Cuban government cracks down on recent protests across the country over food shortages and power outages; and former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro is found to have stayed overnight at the Hungarian embassy in Brasília in February 2024.
Mentioned on the Podcast
Barak Ravid, “Netanyahu Cancels Meetings with Biden Officials Over UN Ceasefire Vote,” Axios
For an episode transcript and show notes, visit The World Next Week at: https://www.cfr.org/podcasts/biden-and-netanyahu-odds-putin-responds-isis-k-attack-cuba-food-and-electricity-shortages
Thursday Mar 21, 2024
Thursday Mar 21, 2024
Senegal holds its postponed presidential election amid fears of democratic backsliding; Slovakia chooses a new president in voting that could bolster Prime Minister Robert Fico’s illiberal tilt; Pakistan and Taliban-controlled Afghanistan exchange blows after a string of terrorist attacks on Pakistani territory; nuclear energy gets a boost at a first-ever summit in Brussels, Belgium; and the European Union provides Egypt with $8 billion worth of aid.
For an episode transcript and show notes, visit The World Next Week at: https://www.cfr.org/podcasts/senegal-and-slovakia-elections-pakistan-and-afghan-taliban-clash-nuclear-energy-gains
Thursday Mar 14, 2024
Thursday Mar 14, 2024
Russia holds its presidential election with the Kremlin aiming to orchestrate a sweeping endorsement of President Vladimir Putin; the U.S. Congress continues its partisan battles over the 2024 budget as concerns of shutdown and aid to allies mount; the U.S. Library of Congress flexes its soft power by awarding Elton John and Bernie Taupin with the Gershwin Prize; and the crisis in Haiti worsens.
Mentioned on the Podcast
John Bresnahan and Jake Sherman, “UNRWA Funding Emerges as Sticking Point in FY 2024 Spending Talks,” Punchbowl
Liana Fix and Maria Snegovaya, “Leadership Change in Russia,” CFR.org
From the Catbird Seat, Library of Congress
Thomas Graham, “Why Russia’s Election Matters to Putin,” CFR.org
Michael Kimmage and Maria Lipman, “Forever Putinism: The Russian Autocrat’s Answer to the Problem of Succession,” Foreign Affairs
Putin's Approval Ratings, Levada-Center
Brett Zongker, “Elton John & Bernie Taupin = 2024 Gershwin Prize,” Library of Congress Blog
For an episode transcript and show notes, visit The World Next Week at: https://www.cfr.org/podcasts/russias-gloomy-elections-us-budget-divisions-elton-john-bernie-taupin-awarded-and-more
Thursday Mar 07, 2024
Thursday Mar 07, 2024
Negotiators attempt to establish a six-week cease-fire and hostage exchange deal between Israel and Hamas before the start of the sacred Islamic month of Ramadan; Portugal holds a snap parliamentary election with a far-right party gaining traction; international films gain prominence at the ninety-sixth Academy Awards; and Chinese President Xi Jinping breaks with the thirty-year tradition of the premier’s press conference after the National People’s Congress.
Mentioned on the Podcast
J.A. Bayona, Society of the Snow
Ilker Çatak, The Teachers’ Lounge
Manohla Dargis, “‘The Zone of Interest’ Review: The Holocaust, Reduced to Background Noise,” New York Times
Matteo Garrone, Io Capitano
Greta Gerwig, Barbie
Johnathan Glazer, The Zone of Interest
Andrea Kannapell, Hwaida Saad, and Michael D. Shear, “‘We Need a Cease-Fire,’ Biden Says.” New York Times
Yorgos Lanthimos, Poor Things
Françoise Mouly, “Barry Blitt’s ‘Slappenheimer’,” New Yorker
Christopher Nolan, Oppenheimer
Celine Song, Past Lives
Justine Triet, Anatomy of a Fall
Wim Wenders, Perfect Days
For an episode transcript and show notes, visit The World Next Week at: https://www.cfr.org/podcasts/ramadan-cease-fire-prospects-portugals-snap-election-oscars-go-international-and-more
Thursday Feb 29, 2024
Biden Addresses SOTU, Iran Holds Elections, Bosnia’s Pipeline Feud, and More
Thursday Feb 29, 2024
Thursday Feb 29, 2024
U.S. President Joe Biden delivers his last State of the Union address before elections to a polarized Congress; Iran holds its first parliamentary and Assembly of Experts elections since the 2022 protests sparked by the death of activist Mahsa Amini; Bosnia and Herzegovina marks independence as ethnic divisions fester; and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) welcomes Sweden as its newest member state.
Mentioned on the Podcast
Arash Ghafouri and Alex Vatanka, “Five Key Takeaways From New Poll Ahead of Iran’s Parliamentary Elections,” Middle East Institute
Andrew Higgins, “A Land Once Emptied by War Now Faces a Peacetime Exodus,” New York Times
Andrew Osborn and Vladimir Soldatkin, “Putin Warns West of Risk of Nuclear War, Says Moscow can Strike Western Targets,” Reuters
For an episode transcript and show notes, visit The World Next Week at: https://www.cfr.org/podcasts/biden-addresses-sotu-iran-holds-elections-bosnias-pipeline-feud-and-more
Thursday Feb 22, 2024
Grim Ukraine War Anniversary, WTO in Limbo, Blinken’s Lula and Milei Tour, and More
Thursday Feb 22, 2024
Thursday Feb 22, 2024
Ukraine marks the second anniversary of Russia’s large-scale invasion; the World Trade Organization (WTO) holds its thirteenth ministerial conference in Abu Dhabi amid deep uncertainty about progress on dispute settlement system reform; U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken travels to Argentina and Brazil to forge stronger U.S.-South America ties; and the World Health Organization raises alarm about the situation at the Gaza Strip’s Nasser Hospital.
Mentioned on the Podcast
“Is Anyone Still Afraid of the United States?: A Conversation With Robert Gates,” Foreign Affairs
Inu Manak and Manjari Chatterjee Miller, “Responsible Consensus at the WTO Can Save the Global Trading System,” CFR.org
Stephanie Nolen, “War and Illness Could Kill 85,000 Gazans in Six Months,” New York Times
“Year Three of the Ukraine War, With Miriam Elder and Carla Anne Robbins,” The President’s Inbox
Recommended Reading
Keith M. Rockwell, “A Moment of Truth for the WTO,” Hinrich Foundation
For an episode transcript and show notes, visit The World Next Week at: https://www.cfr.org/podcasts/grim-ukraine-war-anniversary-wto-limbo-blinkens-lula-and-milei-tour-and-more