Israel’s newest military operation in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah stirs concerns of catastrophe for Palestinians in Gaza, and prompts the United States to condition its offensive military aid for the first time since the Israel-Hamas war broke out; Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan meet in Ankara, Turkey, to continue their diplomatic efforts; the seventy-seventh Cannes Film Festival showcases new films ranging from niche to blockbuster; and Russian President Vladimir Putin orders tactical nuclear weapon drills as a signal to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

Mentioned on the Podcast

Ali Abbasi, The Apprentice 

“Anyone Who’s on the Ground in Gaza is in ‘Danger,’ WFP Chief McCain Says,” NBC News

Jacques Audilard, Emilia Perez

Christina Bouri and Diana Roy, “Few Options for Gazans as Israel Enters Rafah,” CFR.org

Francis Ford Coppola, Megalopolis 

David Cronenberg, The Shrouds 

“Emmanuel Macron In His Own Words,” Economist

Yorgos Lanthimos, Kinds of Kindness 

George Miller, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga  

War in Gaza Update: The Rafah Incursion and Negotiations Over Hostage Release and Ceasefire, Council on Foreign Relations

“Why Lithuania is Considering Sending Soldiers to Ukraine,” Financial Times

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. 

Mentioned on the Podcast

“Exile Journalists Map—Fleeing to Europe and North America,” Reporters Without Borders

“Media Freedom,” Freedom House

2023 World Press Freedom Index, Reporters Without Borders

Journalists: 

Parnaz Azima

Jamal Khashoggi

Alsu Kurmasheva

Monica Lovinescu

Georgi Markov

For an episode transcript and show notes, visit us at: https://www.cfr.org/podcasts/world-press-freedom-day-2024-mounting-threats-renewed-purpose 

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

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 

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 

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 

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 

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 

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 

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