The World Next Week

The deadline for President Joe Biden’s goal of vaccinating 70 percent of Americans passes, the UN Security Council votes to maintain aid deliveries between Turkey and Syria, and the world marks UFO Day.

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.

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

World leaders meet for summits of the Group of Seven (G7) and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). U.S. President Joe Biden convenes with European Union leaders, and sits down separately with UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Mexico holds pivotal midterm elections, Hong Kongers attempt to mark the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre, and Peruvians vote in a divisive presidential runoff.

Belarus faces global condemnation after grounding an airplane to arrest a dissident journalist; West Africa braces for the fallout from Mali’s second coup in nine months; and the United States marks Memorial Day and one hundred years since the Tulsa Race Massacre.

Rome hosts the Global Health Summit online, South Korean President Moon Jae-in visits the White House, and the UN Security Council discusses prospects for Syria as the country holds a presidential election.

Israeli-Palestinian violence raises fears of a bigger conflict, Chile prepares for a historic election, and Washington looks to improve its cyber defenses after a major fuel pipeline was hacked.

A major fuel pipeline from Canada to the United States could be shut down, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris and Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO) meet virtually to discuss migration concerns, and the European Union and India are expected to revive trade talks.

India struggles with the world’s largest COVID-19 surge, Somalia’s president addresses Parliament after dropping a bid to extend his term, and the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan gets underway ten years after the raid that killed Osama bin Laden.

A U.S. advisory panel considers whether to lift the pause on the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, U.S. President Joe Biden addresses Congress, and international films are judged for the ninety-third Academy Awards.