The World Next Week: May 19, 2016

Austria holds the second round of presidential elections, Istanbul hosts the World Humanitarian Summit, and U.S. President Barack Obama travels to Vietnam.

Play Button Pause Button
0:00 0:00
x
Hosts
  • James M. Lindsay
    Senior Vice President, Director of Studies, and Maurice R. Greenberg Chair
  • Robert McMahon
    Managing Editor

Show Notes

Austria holds the second round of presidential elections, Istanbul hosts the World Humanitarian Summit, and U.S. President Barack Obama travels to Vietnam.

Censorship and Freedom of Expression

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.

China

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.

India

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.

Top Stories on CFR

Turkey

Despite the destabilizing effects of his economic and foreign policies, as well as a major election loss, President Erdogan shows no sign of interest in course correction.

Economics

The CFR Global Inflation Tracker allows you to gauge trends in prices across the world over time.

China

Brad Setser, the Whitney Shepardson senior fellow at CFR, sits down with James M. Lindsay to discuss the causes and consequences of China’s export surge.