Best of the fortnight - 10 February 2023
This week, Guest Editor Louis Newstead has scoured the internet for IR-related content that might interest you. Here he brings you the past fortnight's best readings and podcasts to keep you up to date with what's happening around the world.
Global Issues
QAnon is spreading outside the US – a conspiracy theory expert explains what that could mean. Robert M. Dover for The Conversation
Podcast: Borders & Belonging: The migrants that the West doesn’t talk about. Maggie Prezyna, Obert Hodzi, and Ben Mulvey for openDemocracy
World economy is fracturing, not deglobalizing. Neil Shearing for Chatham House
Fighting Climate Change Was Costly. Now It’s Profitable. Emma Marris for The Atlantic
UK and Europe
Levelling up: how UK freeports risk harbouring international crime. Paul Michael Gilmour for The Conversation
UK slides in corruption perception index after series of political scandals. Daniel Hough for The Conversation
Death and solidarity in the ‘graveyard’ at the Belarus-Poland border. Bogumila Hall for openDemocracy
How climate justice and police violence are inextricably linked. William Jones for openDemocracy
France and Germany go it alone as EU summit prepares to tackle fightback against US. Suzanne Lynch, Barbara Moens, and Samuel Stolton for Politico
Don’t neglect the Union. Owen Polley for The Critic
Russia and Ukraine
Ukraine war: casualty counts from either side can be potent weapons and shouldn’t always be believed. Lily Hamourtziadou for The Conversation
Ukraine war: attitudes to women in the military are changing as thousands serve on front lines. Jennifer Mathers and Anna Kvit for The Conversation
Ukraine war: Kyiv summit with EU will bring the two sides closer, but fast-track membership is unlikely. Stefan Wolff for The Conversation
Trans people are caught in the war in Ukraine. Kateryna Semchuk for openDemocracy
Ukraine in Our Future. Timothy Garton Ash for The New York Review of Books
Out of Alignment: What the War in Ukraine Has Revealed About Non-Western Powers. Shivshankar Menon for Foreign Affairs
Ukraine’s Coming Electricity Crisis. Thomas Popik for Foreign Affairs
USA
State of the Union: ‘bipartisan’ Biden’s landmark speech sounds like a campaign launch for 2024. Dafydd Townley for The Conversation
State of the Union has lessons for transatlantic unity. Daniel W. Drezner, Leslie Vinjamuri, James Nixey, and Sanam Vakil for Chatham House
What China’s Surveillance Balloon Says About U.S.-China Relations. David Sacks for Council on Foreign Relations
Podcast: A Chinese Balloon and a Diplomatic Showdown. The Daily by the New York Times
Latin America
Now Bolsonaro is gone, human rights must be top of Brazil’s agenda. Eugenia Lopez Uribe for openDemocracy
Brazil breaks new ground in the global fight against fake news. Mac Margolis and Robert Muggah for openDemocracy
Brazil at the Crossroads. Vanessa Barbara for The New York Review of Books
China
China is extending its dealings with the Taliban as it increases its superpower status. Jose Caballero for The Conversation
Why so many of the world’s students want to go to Chinese universities. Jasvir Nachatar Singh for openDemocracy
China to EU: Drop calls for Ukraine’s ‘complete victory’. Stuart Lau for Politico
Podcast: Inside China’s global propaganda machine – with Joshua Kurlantzick. World Review from The New Statesman
China Hasn’t Given Up on the Belt and Road. Matt Schrader and J. Michael Cole for Foreign Affairs
Asia
Myanmar: two years after the military seized power the country is mired in a bloody civil war – but there are grounds for optimism. Oliver Springate-Baginski and Win Myo Thu for The Conversation
Podcast: Independent Thinking: Myanmar, the coup two years on. Bronwen Maddox, Sebastian Strangio, and Ali Fowle for Chatham House
America Needs to Reassure Japan and South Korea. Katrin Fraser Katz, Christopher Johnstone, and Victor Cha for Foreign Affairs
What’s at Stake in Pakistan’s Power Crisis. Noah Berman for Council on Foreign Relations
Middle East
Turkey-Syria earthquake: how disaster diplomacy can bring warring countries together to save lives. Ilan Kelman for The Conversation
Despite the Taliban’s pledge to eradicate opium, the poppy trade still flourishes in Afghanistan. Daniel Simms for The Conversation
Afghanistan: single women and widows are struggling to find their next meal under Taliban restrictions. Nitya Rao for The Conversation
Podcast: As Israeli-Palestinian clashes intensify, is a third intifada coming? World Review from The New Statesman
Iran’s Hard-Liners Are Winning. Vali Nasr for Foreign Affairs
The Unbearable Plight of Syrians. Kim Ghattas for The Atlantic
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