| Top of the Agenda Truss’s Departure Kicks Off Another UK Leadership Contest Lawmakers from the ruling Conservative Party in the United Kingdom (UK) will hold a preliminary vote (FT) on Monday to choose candidates to succeed Liz Truss, who announced her resignation yesterday. Party members will then choose from the final two candidates in an online poll next Friday. The victor will become the UK’s fourth prime minister in four years and take the helm of a country rattled by inflation and market turmoil under Truss’s six week tenure. Ex–finance minister Rishi Sunak, who opposed Truss’s controversial tax cuts, is expected to stand for the role. Former Home Secretary Suella Braverman, an immigration hard-liner, and former Prime Minister Boris Johnson could also join (The Economist) the race. Markets have calmed after Truss’s second finance minister reversed her budgetary plans, but the Conservative Party still trails the opposition Labour Party by around 30 percent in opinion polls. |
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Council on Foreign Relations – Daily news brief Oct. 10, 2022
| Top of the Agenda Russian Missiles Strike Across Ukraine Following Bridge Attack Russia launched (FT) its most extensive air strikes on Ukraine in months after a Russian bridge was bombed over the weekend. At least ten people were killed across Ukraine, including at least five people in the capital, Kyiv. Russian President Vladimir Putin called the strikes a retaliation for Ukraine’s “terrorist attack” on a bridge linking Russia to Crimea, the Ukrainian peninsula Moscow annexed in 2014. Ukraine has not claimed responsibility for the bridge attack. The Russian strikes hit at least ten Ukrainian cities, targeting infrastructure and civilian areas. North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg called the attacks (Reuters) “horrific and indiscriminate.” Meanwhile, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said he ordered troops to deploy (Reuters) alongside Russian fighters near Ukraine. |
Council on Foreign Relations – Daily news brief Oct. 7, 2022
| Top of the Agenda Human Rights Advocates From Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine Win Nobel Peace Prize This year’s Nobel Peace Prize was awarded (AP) to jailed Belarusian rights activist Ales Bialiatski, the Russian rights group Memorial, and the Ukrainian rights group Center for Civil Liberties. Norwegian Nobel Committee Chair Berit Reiss-Andersen celebrated their work toward anti-militarism, the rule of law, and “peace and fraternity between nations.” Bialiatski founded the human rights organization Viasna and was jailed without trial following his participation in the 2020 protests against the reelection of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko. A Russian court shut down Memorial in December, and the Center for Civil Liberties has worked to document Russian war crimes against Ukrainian civilians. While Reiss-Andersen said the prize is not intended to send a message to Russian President Vladimir Putin, it is seen as an implicit rebuke of Russia’s continued onslaught on Ukraine (Reuters). |
Council on Foreign Relations – Daily news brief Oct. 5, 2022
| Top of the Agenda OPEC+ Weighs Deep Supply Cuts Despite U.S. Concerns The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and oil producers such as Russia are considering a sizable cut (NYT) in their oil output as they meet in Vienna today. The bloc and its allies, a grouping known as OPEC+, could cut production by two million barrels per day, or about 2 percent of global supply. The United States has lobbied Saudi Arabia against such a measure. Also today, European Union (EU) countries agreed (Reuters, AFP) to impose a price cap on Russian oil sales to third countries as part of a new sanctions package on Russia. The idea for a price cap was originally proposed by the Group of Seven (G7). G7 countries that aren’t part of the EU are expected to enact laws (NYT) similar to the EU’s to enforce the price cap. |
Council on Foreign Relations – The World This Week September 30, 2022
| Waiting for Thermidor: America’s Iran Foreign Policy Ray Takeyh and Reuel Marc Gerecht A member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps waves the Iranian flag during a rally in downtown Tehran. Morteza Nikoubazl/NurPhoto/Getty ImagesThe Islamic Republic of Iran may be on an accelerated schedule for revolutionary decay, at least if compared to the USSR. Read the opinion |
Council on Foreign Relations – Daily news brief Sept. 29, 2022
| Top of the Agenda Putin Announces Plan to Annex Four Ukrainian Regions Russian President Vladimir Putin will sign a decree to annex (FT) the Ukrainian regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia tomorrow, a Kremlin spokesperson said. This major escalation in the war in Ukraine comes after Moscow orchestrated votes, widely denounced as a sham, for the regions to join Russia. The regions compose some 15 percent of Ukrainian territory. Russia’s annexation will be the largest forceful takeover of European territory since World War II, according to the Financial Times. The United States and European Union plan to impose new sanctions over the annexation, Reuters reported. Yesterday, military leaders from over forty countries met in Brussels (NYT) to plan long-term military support for Ukraine. |
Council on Foreign Relations – Daily news brief Sept. 27, 2022
| Top of the Agenda Moscow Admits to Problems in Military Mobilization as Russians Protest, Flee Draft Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov has admitted to errors (NYT) in Russia’s ongoing military draft as protests against it erupt nationwide and men flee the country by the tens of thousands. While Moscow originally said only men with military experience would be required to fight in Ukraine, draft officers have attempted to conscript (FT) a broader group. Peskov blamed local officials for the problems. Ethnic minorities appear to be disproportionately targeted (Moscow Times) in the draft. Yesterday, a man shot and wounded a recruitment officer at a draft office in Siberia. Since last Wednesday, an estimated 261,000 men have fled the country, independent Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta reported, citing official sources. |
Council on Foreign Relations – Daily Brief Sept. 26, 2022
| Top of the Agenda Right-Wing Alliance Wins Sweeping Victory in Italian Elections A right-wing coalition headed by Giorgia Meloni of the Brothers of Italy party won a resounding victory (FT) in Italy’s parliamentary elections yesterday, earning over 44 percent of votes. Meloni’s far-right party won over a quarter of votes, putting her on track to become Italy’s first female prime minister and its first far-right head of government since World War II. Meloni’s win was celebrated (Politico) by populist European leaders who have sought to distance themselves from Brussels. Still, Meloni has signaled (The Economist) that her government would seek to work with the European Union (EU), and unlike her coalition allies Matteo Salvini and Silvio Berlusconi, she is a vocal supporter of Ukraine in its conflict with Russia. |
Council on Foreign Relations – The world this week
| The World This WeekSeptember 23, 2022 |
| Putin’s Gamble Thomas GrahamDestroyed Russian military equipment in the center of Izyum, Ukraine, which was liberated after months of occupation. Wojciech Grzedzinski/Washington Post/Getty ImagesRussia’s moves to mobilize thousands more troops and to annex more of Ukraine’s territory signal a new, potentially more dangerous phase of the war. Get the quick take |
Council on Foreign Relations – Daily news brief Sept. 22, 2022
| Top of the Agenda Iran Curbs Internet Access as Protests Over Woman’s Death Spread Protests in support of women’s rights and Iran’s political opposition have spread to dozens of cities (NYT) in the country following a woman’s death after being detained by police last week. Authorities have deployed security forces and disrupted internet and cellular services to contain the demonstrations, Iran’s largest since 2019. Many of those protesting are women. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps called on the judiciary to prosecute (Reuters) anyone spreading “false news and rumors” related to the protests. Twenty-two-year-old Mahsa Amini died after being detained by Iran’s morality police, who accused her of dressing immodestly and violating the country’s headscarf law. Iranian state television reported today that seventeen people, including demonstrators and police, had died (AFP) in the protests. |
Council on Foreign Relations – Daily news brief Sept. 21, 2022
| Top of the Agenda Putin Escalates Russian War Efforts With New Troop Mobilization ” Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a new mobilization of troops (FT) to fight in Ukraine in a televised address today. Three hundred thousand reservists will be called up to fight, Russia’s defense minister said. Putin also hinted at his willingness to use nuclear weapons, saying Russia “will use all the means at its disposal” if its territorial integrity is threatened. In addition, Putin voiced support for referendums that would let Russia illegally annex four occupied regions of Ukraine. The votes could happen as soon as this weekend. Yesterday, the Russian parliament increased penalties (RFE/RL) for soldiers who surrender or refuse to fight and used the words “mobilization” and “martial law” to describe the conflict in Ukraine for the first time. |
| Analysis “Mobilization…would radically upset the Kremlin’s careful management of the war at home. Dramatically increasing Russia’s manpower might seem a logical choice for a country with a population that is three times the size of Ukraine’s, but the war’s popularity has depended on it being far away,” the German Marshall Fund of the United States’ Liana Fix and Michael Kimmage write for Foreign Affairs. “If the Kremlin’s annexation gambit fails to stop the fighting and support to Ukraine, the Kremlin will need to lash out to show it is serious. That means escalation that could come in different forms,” the RAND Corporation’s Dara Massicot tweets. |
Council on Foreign Relations -Daily news brief Sept. 20, 2022
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| Top of the Agenda UN General Assembly Weighs ‘Interconnected Crises’ World leaders begin their annual addresses (NYT) to the UN General Assembly (UNGA) in New York today amid what the United Nations has described (Al Jazeera) as time of “complex and interconnected crises.” This year’s session will focus on the war in Ukraine and climate change. In addition, Western governments are expected to urge Iran to commit to rejoining the 2015 nuclear deal. The leaders of China, India, Ethiopia, and Russia will not attend. U.S. President Joe Biden will speak tomorrow. The United States, African Union, and European Union (EU) will hold a conference today to discuss food insecurity and rising prices. On Thursday, the UN Security Council is due to hold a session on the topic of Ukraine and impunity. UN Secretary-General António Guterres said last week that he doesn’t expect dialogue (NPR) between Russian and Ukrainian delegations. |
Council on Foreign Relations: Daily news brief Sept. 19, 2022
| Top of the Agenda Biden Again Says U.S. Military Would Defend Taiwan In an interview with 60 Minutes that aired yesterday, U.S. President Joe Biden said that if China were to invade Taiwan, U.S. military forces would come to the island’s defense. It is at least the fourth time (NBC) that Biden has publicly made comments appearing to contradict the U.S. policy of “strategic ambiguity” toward Taiwan, though the White House later said U.S. policy has not changed. The long-standing policy deliberately leaves unanswered the question of whether the United States would defend the island. China’s foreign ministry said it lodged a complaint (Reuters) with the United States. A ministry spokesperson said Beijing “will not tolerate any activities aimed at [Taiwan’s] secession.” |
Council on Foreign Relations: Daily news brief Sept. 12, 2022
| Top of the Agenda Ukrainian Forces Make Sweeping Gains in Country’s Northeast Ukraine’s military has recaptured (FT) 3,000 square kilometers (1,158 square miles) of Russia-held territories in the Kharkiv region this month following a weekend blitz. The new counteroffensive struck the military’s strongest blow to Russian forces since repelling them from Kyiv in March. Russia’s defense ministry acknowledged the losses (BBC) of several cities in the region. Kyiv warned of Russian retaliation, and Russian air strikes hit Ukraine’s second-largest thermal power plant last night. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said the advances demonstrated the effect of Western military support in the war. Separately, the Russia-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant was shut down (AP) yesterday to avoid the risk of a nuclear disaster. |
Council on Foreign Relations – Daily news brief Spet. 7, 2022
Top of the Agenda U.S. Officials Say Russia Seeks to Buy Weapons From North KoreaNew U.S. intelligence shows Russia is seeking to purchase artillery shells and rockets (Reuters) from North Korea, American officials said yesterday. While Russia’s ambassador to the United Nations denied the allegations, White House spokesperson John Kirby said Moscow’s inquiry shows Russian President Vladimir Putin’s desperation amid the war in Ukraine. UN sanctions currently bar North Korea (AP) from selling weapons to other countries. It has attempted to strengthen relations with Russia since the start of the war and also expressed interest in sending workers to rebuild Russia-occupied territories in eastern Ukraine. Analysis “The only reason the Kremlin should have to buy artillery shells or rockets from North Korea or anyone is because Putin has been unwilling or unable to mobilize the Russian economy for war at even the most basic level,” the American Enterprise Institute’s Frederick W. Kagan tells the New York Times. Tiếp tục đọc “Council on Foreign Relations – Daily news brief Spet. 7, 2022” |
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