TWNW Presents: Summer Reading Special Episode

In this special episode of The World Next Week, CFR Adjunct Senior Fellow Carla Anne Robbins joins James M. Lindsay and Robert McMahon to discuss the books they recommend reading, the books they’re looking forward to reading, and the books they’re reading for fun.

Read more about Jim, Bob, and Carla’s picks on Jim’s blog, The Water’s Edge.

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Hosts
  • James M. Lindsay
    Senior Vice President, Director of Studies, and Maurice R. Greenberg Chair
  • Robert McMahon
    Managing Editor
  • Carla Anne Robbins
    Senior Fellow

Show Notes

In this special episode of The World Next Week, CFR Adjunct Senior Fellow Carla Anne Robbins joins James M. Lindsay and Robert McMahon to discuss the books they recommend reading, the books they’re looking forward to reading, and the books they’re reading for fun.

 

Read more about Jim, Bob, and Carla’s picks on Jim’s blog, The Water’s Edge.

 

Jims Picks:

This is How They Tell Me the World Ends: The Cyberweapons Arm Race, by Nicole Perlroth

Objects of Desire, by Clare Sestanovich

Nine Nasty Words: English in the GutterThen, Now, and Forever, by John McWhorter 

 

Bobs Picks:

Missionaries, by Phil Klay

Year of Wonders: A Novel of the Plague, Geraldine Brooks

“Power of the Powerless” in Living in Truth, by Vaclav Havel

 

Carlas Picks:

The Price of Peace: Money , Democracy, and the Life of John Maynard Keynes, by Zachary D. Carter

The Transparency of Time, by Leonardo Padura

George Smiley Novels, by John le Carré

Russia

Russia holds its presidential election with the Kremlin aiming to orchestrate a sweeping endorsement of President Vladimir Putin; the U.S. Congress continues its partisan battles over the 2024 budget as concerns of shutdown and aid to allies mount; the U.S. Library of Congress flexes its soft power by awarding Elton John and Bernie Taupin with the Gershwin Prize; and the crisis in Haiti worsens.

Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

Negotiators attempt to establish a six-week cease-fire and hostage exchange deal between Israel and Hamas before the start of the sacred Islamic month of Ramadan; Portugal holds a snap parliamentary election with a far-right party gaining traction; international films gain prominence at the ninety-sixth Academy Awards; and Chinese President Xi Jinping breaks with the thirty-year tradition of the premier’s press conference after the National People’s Congress.

United States

U.S. President Joe Biden delivers his last State of the Union address before elections to a polarized Congress; Iran holds its first parliamentary and Assembly of Experts elections since the 2022 protests sparked by the death of activist Mahsa Amini; Bosnia and Herzegovina marks independence as ethnic divisions fester; and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) welcomes Sweden as its newest member state.

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Immigration and Migration

Dara Lind, a senior fellow at the American Immigration Council, sits down with James M. Lindsay to discuss the record surge in migrants and asylum seekers crossing the U.S. southern border.

Center for Preventive Action

Every January, CFR’s annual Preventive Priorities Survey analyzes the conflicts most likely to occur in the year ahead and measures their potential impact. For the first time, the survey anticipates that this year, 2024, the United States will contend not only with a slew of global threats, but also a high risk of upheaval within its own borders. Is the country prepared for the eruption of election-related instability at home while wars continue to rage abroad?