Best of the week - 10 September 2021

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.

Climate change

• The argument that reducing populations will help curb climate change has obvious appeal, but it overlooks several inconvenient facts. Anna Louie Sussman in the New York Review of Books.

Europe

• Is Lithuania the West’s first line of defense, against threats from authoritarian regimes in Russia, Belarus and China. Emma Ashford and Matthew Kroenig in Foreign Policy
• Podcast: a debate on the German election campaign’s impact on EU policy makers. A POLITICO EU confidential podcast.

20 years after 9/11

• How the US got 9/11 wrong. The US response to 9/11 inadvertently taught the rest of the world how to fight it – and win. Foreign Policy. Michael Hirsh in Foreign Policy
• After 9/11, the US got almost everything wrong. Garrett M Graff in the Atlantic
• How the war on terror changed America. Emily Tamkin in the New Statesman
• Podcast: Youth perspectives of 9/11. Chatham House podcasts
• Podcast: a special edition of POLITICO’s Westminster Insider marking the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks, with senior officials in Tony Blair’s government, including Richard Wilson, Jonathan Powell, David Manning and Christopher Meyer
• Africa: escaping 9/11’s long shadow. Comfort Ero and Murithi Mutiga look at the option for curbing the gains being made by jihadists in many African countries.  From International Crisis Group
• Latin America 20 years after 9/11: a missed opportunity for building just societies. Francesc Badia in Open Democracy.

United States

• How the US should act to shape the future of global trade. America must return to the Trans-Pacific partnership. Wendy Cutler in Foreign Affairs
• Why the US failed to win over Islamabad – and prevent a Taliban victory. Daniel Markey in Foreign Affairs
• The new age of American power – how the US military is planning another century of global domination. Adam Tooze in the New Statesman
• Podcast: The mystery of Havana syndrome. Gordon Corera investigates the mysterious illness that has struck American diplomats and spies. BBC Radio 4 Crossing Continents.

China

• How China weaponised the press. A small Hong Kong newspaper illustrates how Beijing uses the tools of a free society to suppress freedom itself. Timothy McLaughlin in the Atlantic.

Middle East

• Lebanon’s economy has collapsed, so has our way of life. Lina Mounzer in the New York Times.
• Podcast: Russia’s Red Sea Strategy. An examination of Russia’s emerging strategy for the Red Sea. Dr Samuel Ramani and Dr Neil Melvin discuss Russia’s growing attention to this region and the implications of Moscow’s expanding security presence.

Afghanistan

• Afghanistan was a twenty year distraction from the West’s real troubles. Lawrence Freedman in the Times
• The other Afghan women. Life for women in rural Afghanistan under successive regimes since 1979. Anand Gopal for the New Yorker
• In Afghanistan, it’s back to the future – of Taliban tyranny. Lynne O’Donnell reflects on the actions of the Taliban since taking power on August 15. Read more in Foreign Policy
• Unipolor American: Another imperial delusion ends. Patrick Porter for Englesberg Ideas
• Who is Mullah Hassan Akhund? And what his appointment could mean for Afghanistan amid concerns about human rights in the war-ravaged nation. Ali A Olomi for The Conversation
• Podcast: How will the Taliban rule this time? with Matthieu Aikins for the Daily podcast, New York Times
• Podcast: Negotiating survival: civilian relations with the Taliban. An Intelligence Squared debate on how civilian agency can shape the conduct of insurgencies. With Ashley Jackson and Rosamund Urwin
• We are on the cusp of one of the most dangerous arms race in human history. What are the threats posed to our ethical frameworks for what is permitted in war. AC Grayling for Prospect Magazine.

Around the globe

• Canada: Will Justin Trudeau’s snap election backfire? Luke Savage in the New Statesman
• Nicaragua: Daniel Ortega has created an insular dynastic tyranny that eerily resembles the one against which he fought decades ago. Stephen Kinzer in the New York Review of Books
• A work in progress. The history of feminism: a review of two new books examining global grassroots efforts and the influence of American women labour leaders on international agreements. Nancy F Cott in the New York Review of Books
• Japan: Why Prime Minister Suga has stepped down and what happens next? Sebastian Maslow and Paul O’Shea in The Conversation
• Podcast: Meritocracy has long been an article of faith in the modern Western world. Michael Sandel, Harvard philosopher Michael Sandel and Adrian Woolridge, political editor at the Economist argue whether we need more or less meritocracy in society. An Intelligence Squared podcast.

Photo by Sincerely Media on Unsplash