Best of the fortnight - 4 November 2022

4 November 2022

Each fortnight 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.

Global

COP27 Climate Summit in Egypt: What to Expect. Lindsay Maizland for Council on Foreign Relations
Why I logged off twitter. Whatever Elon Musk does, uses will be implicated in what happens to the site. That’s a responsibility we all have to take seriously. David Frum in the Atlantic

Russia and Ukraine

What could bring Putin down? Regime collapse is more likely than a coup. Daniel Treisman for Foreign Affairs
What is any are the chances of toppling Putin and who might take over? Nicholas James for the Conversation
Former European judge: our enemy is Putin, not Russia. Franklin Dehousse for Prospect Magazine
What new missiles is Iran providing to Russia and what difference will it make? David Salisbury for the Conversation
Russia is trying to engineer a humanitarian crisis in Ukraine. Having failed on the battlefield, Moscow hits energy infrastructure. Ido Vock in the New Statesman
Russia’s new strategy in Ukraine and the risks of a dirty bomb. Tim Willasey-Wilsey for Academia
Another round of pointless and dangerous escalation as Putin blocks grain exports. Stefan Wolff in the Conversation
Putin is rewriting the rules of siege warfare. Robert M Dover for the Conversation
Podcast: Passports and Spies. Sheila Fitzpatrick talks about the perils of doing archive research in the Soviet Union during her academic career. An LRB podcast
Podcast: How Europe’s Energy Crisis Exposed Old Fault Lines and New Anxieties. The Daily by the New York Times
Podcast: War in Ukraine, Congress in China. The inaugural episode of Independent Thinking: a new Chatham House podcast which examines the latest developments surrounding Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and Xi Jinping’s political report from the 20th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party
Podcast: Russia’s eventual defeat in Ukraine. Lawrence Freedman for the We Society podcast series.

UK and Europe

The UK’s asylum system is in crisis, but the government – not refugees – is to blame. Melanie Griffiths for The Conversation
‘Hand-in-hand’: Finland, Sweden pledge to join NATO together. Joshua Posaner for Politico
Armenia’s LGBTIQ activists fight on under shadow of war. Lucy Martirosyan for openDemocracy
Podcast: Which version of Rishi Sunak will Britain get? The New Statesman Podcast
Podcast: The rise of Europe’s far-right parties. Today in Focus by The Guardian
Podcast: The making and meaning of Giorgia Meloni. She started out as the awkward outsider, a woman from humble Roman roots in an Italy whose politics have long been dominated by alpha men from the north. What was Meloni’s ideological journey and what does her rise mean for the rest of Europe? New Statesman Podcast.

USA

Ukrainians and Iranians have the same enemy. They should have the same ally. The goal is liberty. The US should be able to see that. Roya Hakakian for the Atlantic
The attack on Paul Pelosi should be a moment of national reckoning. Jill Filipovic for The Guardian.

Latin America

Victorious Lula faces an uphill struggle with a damaged economy and a deeply divided country. Anthony Pereira for the Conversation.
Brazil’s choice between fear and nostalgia. Mauro Fernandes for Prospect Magazine
Bolsonaro has conceded. What next for Lula and Brazil? Francesc Badia I Dalmases for openDemocracy
Podcast: Lula v. Bolsonaro. A look at the history of both candidates, their supporters and campaigns, and what was at stake in the contest. An LRB podcast.

Middle East

How Saudi Arabia Sees the World. Karen E. Young for Foreign Affairs
Podcast: Can protesters topple the Iranian regime? Ido Vock speaks to the Iranian academic Fatemeh Shams about the Iranian protests. World Review from the New Statesman
Podcast: Protests in Iran. Azadeh Moaveni talks about the demonstrations in Iran. To what degree do the protesters have a shared purpose, the history and significance of the veil in Iranian state policy, the effects of government oppression in the border areas of the country, and how Iran might change after Ayatollah Khamenei.

Africa