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The World Next Week: Syria Faces a Chemical Weapons Deadline, UN General Assembly Convenes for Its 68th Session, and Germans Vote for Chancellor

<p>UN chemical weapons experts prepare to collect samples from an alleged site of a chemical weapons attack in the Damascus suburb of Zamalka (Bassam Khabieh/Courtesy Reuters).</p>
UN chemical weapons experts prepare to collect samples from an alleged site of a chemical weapons attack in the Damascus suburb of Zamalka (Bassam Khabieh/Courtesy Reuters).

By experts and staff

Published
  • James M. LindsayCFR Expert
    Mary and David Boies Distinguished Senior Fellow in U.S. Foreign Policy

The World Next Week podcast is up. Bob McMahon and I discussed whether Syrian President Bashar al-Assad will meet his commitments on chemical weapons, the start of another session of the United Nations General Assembly, and Germany’s national elections this weekend.

[audio: https://www.cfr.org/content/publications/media/editorial/2013/20130919_T…]

The highlights:

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

Syria’s Chemical Weapons: Fox News interviews Syrian president Bashar al-Assad. The UN provides the full text of its report on the August 21 chemical weapons attack. The New York Times reports that Russia has criticized the UN report on the August attack. Paul Stares explains three things to know about Syria’s chemical weapons disarmament.

UN General Assembly: The United Nations provides a provisional agenda for the General Assembly. The UN News Centre writes that the General Assembly aims to lay the groundwork for sustainable development past 2015. The Wall Street Journal describes possible meetings between the United States and Iran. The Guardian writes that Iran has freed political prisoners ahead of Hassan Rouhani’s trip to the UN.

German Elections: BBC News describes several possible election outcomes. Deutsche Welle explains what’s at stake in the German elections and analyzes the only televised German debate. The Guardian argues that the German election is important to Europe’s future. Mats Persson writes in the Wall Street Journal that post-election Germany’s ability to act in Europe will be limited.