Skip to content
Member Login
Defense and Security

The World Next Week: Obama and Romney Debate, Netanyahu Visits the United States, the UN Talks Freedom of Speech, and Georgia Votes Amid Scandal

<p>Jim Lehrer, seen here moderating the first 2008 presidential debate, will moderate next week&#8217;s presidential debate at the University of Denver. (Chip Somodevilla/ courtesy Reuters)</p>
Jim Lehrer, seen here moderating the first 2008 presidential debate, will moderate next week’s presidential debate at the University of Denver. (Chip Somodevilla/ courtesy Reuters)

By experts and staff

Published

Experts

The World Next Week podcast is up. Bob McMahon and I discussed the first presidential debate; Israeli prime minister Netanyahu’s visit to the United States; freedom of speech; and Georgia’s parliamentary elections.

[audio: https://www.cfr.org/content/publications/media/editorial/2012/20120927_T…]

The highlights:

For more on the topics we discussed in the podcast check out:

Obama and Romney face off in the first presidential debate. The New York Times provides poll results showing show that Obama is widening his lead in battleground states. Politico thinks that the Denver debate is “do-or-die” for Romney. The LA Times predicts that Obama will get less practice than Romney for the debates and reports what to expect from the first debate.  ABC writes that Paul Ryan has confidence that Romney will best Obama in the debates.  The Commission on Presidential Debates provides the topics for the first debate and the full presidential debate schedule.

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu visits United States. Reuters writes that Netanyahu continues to push Obama to set a red line for Iran and that Netanyahu drew an actual red line on a picture of a bomb during his UNGA speech.  Politicker reports that Netanyahu will meet with New York mayor Michael Bloomberg.

The UN debates Freedom of Speech. The New York Times reports on the calls by the presidents of Egypt and Yemen for curbs on free speech. Colum Lynch reviews the push for anti-blasphemy laws. The Miami Herald reports on a Coptic Christian sentenced to six years in an Egyptian prison for blaspheming the Prophet Mohammed.

Georgia holds parliamentary elections. Foreign Policy writes that the recent prisoner abuse scandal will be a significant challenge for Georgia’s ruling party before parliamentary elections on October 1. The Daily Beast notes that this is a prime opportunity for the opposition party to take control of the government. Reuters reports that Russia has criticized the current government on its inability to defend human rights.