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Introduction
Over the last several decades, governments have collectively pledged to slow global warming. But despite intensified diplomacy, the world is already facing the consequences of climate…
Show Notes
In this special episode of The World Next Week, CFR Adjunct Senior Fellow Carla Anne Robbins joins James M. Lindsay and Robert McMahon to discuss the books they recommend reading, the books they’re looking forward to reading, and the books they’re reading for fun. (This is a rebroadcast.)
Read more about Jim, Bob, and Carla’s picks on Jim’s blog, The Water’s Edge.
Jim’s Picks:
This is How They Tell Me the World Ends: The Cyberweapons Arm Race, by Nicole Perlroth
Objects of Desire, by Clare Sestanovich
Nine Nasty Words: English in the Gutter—Then, Now, and Forever, by John McWhorter
Bob’s Picks:
Missionaries, by Phil Klay
Year of Wonders: A Novel of the Plague, Geraldine Brooks
“Power of the Powerless” in Living in Truth, by Vaclav Havel
Carla’s Picks:
The Price of Peace: Money , Democracy, and the Life of John Maynard Keynes, by Zachary D. Carter
The Transparency of Time, by Leonardo Padura
George Smiley Novels, by John le Carré
Censorship and Freedom of Expression
In this special episode to mark World Press Freedom Day, Jeffrey Gedmin, cofounder and editor-in-chief of American Purpose and former president of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, joins Robert McMahon and Carla Anne Robbins to discuss the global state of press freedom. They cover the challenges that a growing number of journalists face in exile or imprisonment, the U.S. role in upholding freedom of the press, and more.
Blinken Visits China, May Day Stirs Workers’ Rights Concerns, the U.S. Resumes Ukraine Aid, and More
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.
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.