Best of the week - 11 December 2020
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Each week BISA Director, Juliet Dryden, scours the internet for IR-related content that might interest you. Here she brings you this week's best readings and podcasts to keep you up to date with what's happening around the world.
UK and European politics
- Brexit talks: The sticking points explained. Simon Usherwood in The Conversation
- The architects of Brexit drove this act of self-destruction, but they won’t own it. Gaby Hinsliff in The Guardian
- For Europe, losing Britain is bad. Keeping Hungary and Poland could be worse argues Timothy Garton Ash
- Dancing with the devil: how the EU is complicit in Egypt’s brutal regime. Read Andrea Teti and Vivienne Matthies-Boon in Open Democracy
- The European coup. Read Perry Anderson’s review of the literature of the European Union over the years in the London Review of Books
- Podcast: What’s next for France and Italy? As we wait for a Brexit deal or no deal, discuss what the next year might hold for French and Italian politics. With Lucia Rubinelli and Chris Bickerton in TALKING POLITICS
- Podcast: Populism and the rise of autocracy from UCL Political Science. There are concerns about the rise of populism and erosion of democratic standards throughout the world. Examples include countries such as Hungary, Poland and Brazil, growing support for populist parties in western Europe, and recent development in the US. Listen to three experts - Anne Applebaum, Rory Stewart and Nadia Urbinati.
COVID-related
- Pandemic drowns out women’s voices: gender equality and the virus. Read Leah de Haan in The World Today
- Second lockdown left women feeling worn out, while men complained of boredom. Read Bobby Duffy and Rosie Campbell’s analysis in The Conversation.
US politics and world affairs
- Is Trump trying to stage a coup? Zeynep Tufekci in The Atlantic
- Biden must master the art of foreign policy says Thomas White in The Atlantic
- Feeling spurned by Trump, the UN sees redemption in Biden and team argues Rick Gladstone in the New York Times
- Podcast: Trump shut the door on migrants. Will Biden open it? Listen to Caitlin Dickinson, an immigration reporter for the Times, speak on the Daily Podcast.
China and world politics
- China rethinking its role. With China positioning itself as a leader on the world stage, its government is drawing on memories of the role the country played in shaping the post-world order. This raised tough questions about China’s self-image. Read Rana Mitter in Engelsberg Ideas
- Five steps Joe Biden should take to confront the China challenge. Joey Sui for The Diplomat
- Podcast: A debate on whether it’s time for the West to get tough with China from Intelligence Squared. Listen to MP Tom Tugendhat argue that we need to prevent a Beijing-dominated world and Singaporean author Kishore Mahbubani, who contends that the West should accept that it’s only a matter of time before China usurps the US as the world’s most influential superpower.
Around the world
- While the world was locked down, Yemen faced and apocalyptic year. Isa Ferrara in Open Democracy
- Why the killing of an Iranian nuclear scientist poses a challenge for Joe Biden. Lawrence Freedman in the New Statesman
- Guns, drones and poison: the new age of assassination. Read Paul Maddrell in the Conversation
- Ten years after the Arab Spring the uprisings continue. Mark Lynch in Foreign Affairs
- Saudi Arabia’s reform and repression. Mohammed bin Salman was hailed as a moderniser in 2017. What happened? Prospect Magazine explains with Madawi Al-Rasheed
- Podcast: The ex-men and women from the Mile End Institute, Queen Mary University. Listen to author Giles Edwards talk about what happens to world leaders after leaving office. He discusses the international organisations, global foundations and club consultancies where global leaders enjoy an array of opportunities to carry on having an impact.
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