The World Next Week

European leaders investigate the sudden leaks in the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines, suspecting sabotage; Brazil holds its presidential election amid strong partisan tensions; and Iranians continue their anti-government protests over the death of Mahsa Amini. 

Mentioned on the Podcast

The Council on Foreign Relations, “Deforestation in the Amazon,” CFR.org

Italians vote in a snap general election with an expected populist surge; occupied territories in Ukraine stage referendums on whether or not to join Russia; and the Joe Biden administration holds a summit with Pacific Island leaders to counter growing Chinese influence. 

Mentioned on the Podcast

World leaders gather for the seventy-seventh session of the UN General Assembly; NATO’s senior military authority meets in Estonia to discuss the war in Ukraine; and the U.S. Federal Reserve plans another interest rate hike to combat inflation.

Mentioned on the Podcast

Richard Haass, “Ukraine’s Coming Winter of Decision,” Project Syndicate

James M. Lindsay, “Ukraine’s Counteroffensive, With Max Boot,” The President’s Inbox

James M. Lindsay and Robert McMahon, “Secretary Blinken Visits Mexico, Sweden’s Election, Big Power Summitry in Uzbekistan, and More,” The World Next Week

David Scheffer, “Survival Governance at the UN General Assembly,”CFR.org

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken visits Mexico with an economics-focused agenda; Swedes head to the polls for a general election that’s expected to be a close race between the ruling left-wing bloc and right-wing opposition; and Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi join leaders from across Asia in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, to discuss regional stability, food security, and trade at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Summit.

Mentioned on the Podcast

Shannon K. O’Neil, Two Nations Indivisible, Oxford University Press

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) visits the recently shelled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Russia-occupied Ukraine; the United Kingdom’s Conservative Party chooses the country’s next prime minister; and Chileans vote on a more progressive constitution. 

Mentioned on the Podcast

Lillian Posner, “Russian Roulette at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant,” Think Global Health

The United States marks one year since its military withdrawal from Afghanistan; China goes through a severe drought, with repercussions for agriculture, energy, and supply chains; and French President Emmanuel Macron travels to Algeria to try to mend relations.

Mentioned on the Podcast

Alice C. Hill and Madeleine Babin, “What the Historic U.S. Climate Bill Gets Right and Gets Wrong,” CFR.org

Albert Camus, The Myth of Sisyphus

Albert Camus, The Plague

Albert Camus, The Stranger

The United States and South Korea hold joint military drills amid mounting tough rhetoric from North Korea; nuclear deal negotiations continue as Iran responds to the European Union’s most recent draft of a revived agreement; and Ukraine marks its Independence Day six months after the Russian invasion began.

Mentioned on the Podcast

Max Boot, “Why Kyiv’s ‘Thousand Bee Sting’ Strategy is Costing Russia Dearly,” Washington Post

Jessica Chen Weiss, “The China Trap,” Foreign Affairs

Steven Cook and Martin Indyk, “The Case for a New U.S.-Saudi Strategic Compact,” Council on Foreign Relations

Nicholas Pelham, “MBS: Despot in the Desert,” The Economist

Karim Sadjadpour, “What the U.S. Gets Wrong About Iran,” New York Times

Stephen Sestanovich, “Putin’s Strategy in Ukraine,” The President’s Inbox

Scott Snyder, “Why North Korea Might Reject Yoon Suk-yeol’s Audacious Initiative,” CFR.org

In this special episode of The World Next Week, Heather A. Conley, president of the German Marshall Fund of the United States, joins James M. Lindsay and Robert McMahon to discuss the books they recommend reading, the books they’re looking forward to reading, and the podcasts they’re listening to for fun this summer. (This is a rebroadcast.)

Read more about Jim, Bob, and Heather’s picks on Jim’s blog, The Water’s Edge.

Jim’s Picks

Michael Mandelbaum, The Four Ages of American Foreign Policy (2022)

Richard Cohen, Making History: The Storytellers Who Shaped the Past (2021)

Laszlo Montgomery, The China History Podcast, Teacup Media

Bob’s Picks

Catherine Belton, Putin’s People (2020)

Honorée Fanonne Jeffers, The Love Songs of W.E.B Du Bois (2021)

Cynthia Graber and Nicola Twilley, Gastropod, Vox Media Podcast Network

Heather’s Picks

Greg Behrman, The Most Noble Adventure: The Marshall Plan and How America Helped Rebuild Europe (2007)

Patrick Radden Keefe, Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland (2018)

Todd Schulkin, Inside Julia’s Kitchen, Heritage Radio Network

Additional Books, Podcasts, and Shows Mentioned on the Podcast

Karen Dewisha, Putin’s Kleptocracy (2014)

Aaron L. Friedberg, Getting China Wrong (2022)

Joseph Marion Jones, The Fifteen Weeks (1965)

Michael Kimmage, The Abandonment of the West (2020)

Sebastian Mallaby, The Power Law (2022)

George Mitchell, Making Peace (1999)

Yascha Mounk, The Great Experiment (2022)

Benn Steil, The Marshall Plan: Dawn of the Cold War (2019)

Ali Wyne, America’s Great-Power Opportunity (2022)

Heather A. Conley, “How Will Biden Handle Russia?” The President's Inbox, December 1, 2020

David Crowther, The History of England

Mike Duncan, The History of Rome

Jamie Jeffers, The British History Podcast

Michael Mandelbaum, “America’s Rise to Power,” The President's Inbox, May 7, 2022

Robin Pierson, The History of Byzantium

Julia, HBO Max (2022)

Russian President Vladimir Putin hosts Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Sochi; U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken travels to Cambodia, the Philippines, South Africa, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Rwanda; and Kenya elects a new president amid a severe drought and the global inflation crisis.

Mentioned on the Podcast

Rachel Chason and Rael Ombuor, “A wild-card candidate in Kenya is sparking an African debate about weed,” Washington Post

A Moscow court considers the case of Marina Ovsyannikova, a Russian reporter who protested the invasion of Ukraine; China celebrates the ninety-fifth anniversary of its People’s Liberation Army amid growing tensions with the United States; and UN member states meet in New York to discuss the nonproliferation of nuclear weapons.

Mentioned on the Podcast

Ely Ratner, “Twelfth Annual South China Sea Conference: Lunch Keynote,” Center for Strategic and International Studies, July 26, 2022

Ivo H. Daalder and James M. Lindsay, “Why Putin Underestimated the West: And How to Sustain Its Newfound Unity,” Foreign Affairs, April 7, 2022

“Keeping the Nuclear Peace, With Michael Krepon,” The President’s Inbox, January 11, 2022