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Introduction
Over the last several decades, governments have collectively pledged to slow global warming. But despite intensified diplomacy, the world is already facing the consequences of climate…
Show Notes
In this special episode of The World Next Week, Heather A. Conley, president of the German Marshall Fund of the United States, joins James M. Lindsay and Robert McMahon to discuss the books they recommend reading, the books they’re looking forward to reading, and the podcasts they’re listening to for fun this summer. (This is a rebroadcast.)
Read more about Jim, Bob, and Heather’s picks on Jim’s blog, The Water’s Edge.
Jim’s Picks
Michael Mandelbaum, The Four Ages of American Foreign Policy (2022)
Richard Cohen, Making History: The Storytellers Who Shaped the Past (2021)
Laszlo Montgomery, The China History Podcast, Teacup Media
Bob’s Picks
Catherine Belton, Putin’s People (2020)
Honorée Fanonne Jeffers, The Love Songs of W.E.B Du Bois (2021)
Cynthia Graber and Nicola Twilley, Gastropod, Vox Media Podcast Network
Heather’s Picks
Greg Behrman, The Most Noble Adventure: The Marshall Plan and How America Helped Rebuild Europe (2007)
Patrick Radden Keefe, Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland (2018)
Todd Schulkin, Inside Julia’s Kitchen, Heritage Radio Network
Additional Books, Podcasts, and Shows Mentioned on the Podcast
Karen Dawisha, Putin’s Kleptocracy (2014)
Aaron L. Friedberg, Getting China Wrong (2022)
Joseph Marion Jones, The Fifteen Weeks (1965)
Michael Kimmage, The Abandonment of the West (2020)
Sebastian Mallaby, The Power Law (2022)
George Mitchell, Making Peace (1999)
Yascha Mounk, The Great Experiment (2022)
Benn Steil, The Marshall Plan: Dawn of the Cold War (2019)
Ali Wyne, America’s Great-Power Opportunity (2022)
Heather A. Conley, “How Will Biden Handle Russia?” The President's Inbox, December 1, 2020
David Crowther, The History of England
Mike Duncan, The History of Rome
Jamie Jeffers, The British History Podcast
Michael Mandelbaum, “America’s Rise to Power,” The President's Inbox, May 7, 2022
Robin Pierson, The History of Byzantium
Julia, HBO Max (2022)
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.
Blinken Visits China, May Day Stirs Workers’ Rights Concerns, the U.S. Resumes Ukraine Aid, and More
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.
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.