Reading Around the World Over the Weekend: January 7, 2022
Happy New Year! We hope you had a restful holiday. Please find our recommended weekend reads covering key issues and events around the world. We hope you find these informative, useful, and perhaps even fun. Please let us know if you want us to add anyone to our mailing list.
Germany
> Foreign Policy “The Kaiser’s Family Wants Its Stuff Back. Germany Isn’t Sure They Deserve It.”
The former royal lost countless artworks, palaces, and wealth in the 20th century. But were they victims – or enablers – of the Nazis?
United States
> Atlantic Council “Seizing the Advantage: A Vision for the Next US National Defense Strategy”
As the Biden administration prepares to release its National Defense Strategy (NDS), the modern challenges facing the United States have continued to evolve, and the risks to the United States, its interests, and those of its allies and partners are more pronounced than even four years ago. The Atlantic Council convened a group of leading experts to offer their strategic views for what should be considered in the forthcoming NDS.
> Congressional Budget Office “The Effects of Recent Legislation on the Economy and the Budget”
Phillip Swagel, Director of the Congressional Budget Office, outlined the agency’s budget and economic analysis during the coronavirus pandemic and described some of the challenges involved in analyzing current economic policy.
China
> Brookings Institute “US-China Technology Competition: A Brookings Global China Interview”
The scale and speed of China’s technological advancements in recent years have raised concerns in Washington and elsewhere over the implications for the United States’ overall economic competitiveness and its national security, as well as the impact on liberal values and good governance globally. Brookings assembled a group of leading experts – including our colleague, Ryan Hass – to explore the issue.
> Peterson Institute for International Economics “US-China Phase One Tracker: Purchases of US Goods”
On February 14, 2020, the Economic and Trade Agreement between the United States and China went into effect. China agreed to expand purchases of certain US goods and services by a combined $200 billion by December 31, 2021. They didn’t make the target. Here is a breakdown of what they did and did not do.
> Foreign Affairs “The Taiwan Temptation” In recent months, however, there have been disturbing signals that Beijing is reconsidering its peaceful approach and contemplating armed unification. Chinese President Xi Jinping has made clear his ambition to resolve the Taiwan issue, grown markedly more aggressive on issues of sovereignty, and ordered the Chinese military to increase its activity near the island. With this in mind, the author argues it is time to take seriously why Beijing might resort to force (Note: This was first published in June 2021 but in light of current events, we thought it worth sharing here).
> Foreign Policy “China’s Two-Ocean Strategy Puts India in a Pincer” The Chinese foreign minister’s island hopping is the latest sign of contestation over the Indo-Pacific – and challenges India’s claim to primacy in South Asian waters which is India’s own maritime backyard.
Kazakhstan
> Carnegie Endowment for International Peace “Kazakhstan’s Unprecedented Crisis” In trying to calm violent protests, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has involved an unpredictable and untrusted partner: Russia.
Foreign Policy “Why Russia Sent Troops Into Kazakhstan”
Moscow’s swift aid to a neighboring regime track with its wider strategic goals: Supporting a pro-Russian government that is strategically aligned with the Kremlin.
> Bloomberg “Why Kazakhstan Protests Reverberate Beyond the Region”
Bloomberg offers a quick but to the point overview of the significant implications of the protests in Kazakhstan beyond the country itself.
Korean Peninsula
> Washington Post “Your cat could burn your house down, Korean officials warn after 107 fires sparked by felines”
The warning comes as the capital’s Metropolitan Fire & Disaster Headquarters estimated that more than 100 fires over the past three years were started by cats, many of which managed to turn on electric stoves with their furry paws. (
Latin America
> Council on Foreign Relations “Mercosur: South America’s Fractious Trade Bloc”
Three decades after its founding, Latin America’s largest trade bloc faces multiple challenges, including persistent internal division and the economic disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
> Center for Strategic & International Studies “A Closer Look at Colombia’s Illegal, Artisanal, and Small-Scale Mining”
Throughout the Colombian Amazon, a rush is on by various criminal actors to secure mining revenues. Skyrocketing gold prices (now twice the price of an ounce of cocaine), various armed dissident groups looking for revenues, and the overall growing market for rare and expensive are causing new stress on an already fragile ecosystem.
> New York Review of Books “Brazil Turns, Lula Returns”
Bolsonaro’s years of misrule have left a yearning for stability. Even conservative eleits are adjusting to the idea of the Workers’ Party leader as president again.
Technology/Energy/Sustainable Investments
> MIT Technology Review “Ten Breakthrough Technologies of 2021”
2021 saw major breakthrough in tech. Some, such as mRNA vaccines, are already changing our lives, while others are still a few years off. All will have a big impact on our lives for years to come.
> The New Yorker “How Mosquitos Changed Everything”
They slaughtered our ancestors and derailed our history. And they are not finished with us yet.
> Vox “Fusion Energy Is a Reason to Be Excited About the Future”
It’s been a long road, but recent advances mean we’re closing in on a game-changing technology.
Economics
> The Quarterly Journal of Economics “The Economic Consequences of Increasing Sleep Among the Urban Poor”
In this study, researchers point out the urban poor in developing countries face challenging living environments but that short afternoon naps at the workplace lead to significant increases in productivity, psychological well-being and cognition. In contrast, an extra 30 minutes sleep at night shows no similar improvements.
> Visual Capitalist “Visualizing the $94 Trillion World Economy in One Chart”
As we all know, gross domestic product (GDP) serves as a barometer for a country’s economic health. It measures the total market value or final goods and services
and services produced in a country during a given year. Together, the U.S. and China account for 42% of global GDP. Here is the GDP by country according to IMF estimates.
> National Bureau of Economic Research “The Price of Nails since 1695: A Window into Economic Change”
Why nails? They are a basic manufactured product whose form and quality have changed relatively little over the last three centuries, yet the process for producing them has changed dramatically. Accordingly, nails provide a useful prism through which to examine a wide range of economic and technological developments that touch on multiple areas of both micro- and macroeconomics.
> Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis “the Dynamics of International Shipping Costs”
This report shows that a nontrivial portion of the dynamics of international shipping costs observed in recovery from the COVID-19 recession appears to be consistent with the standard dynamics of international shipping costs. These costs are volatile and pro-cyclical, so it is not unusual that they increase significantly when economic activity rebounds after a recession.
> Fortune “Crypto Crime Just Hit an All-Time High of$14 billion”
Criminals scored a whopping $14 billion in cryptocurrency in 2021, marking an all-time high and a 79% increase from the previous year according to a study by the cryptocurrency research firm Chainalysis. The report can be found here.
Global Issues
> Aeon “How Disruptions Happen”
Major disruptions in world history follow a clear pattern. What can upheavals of the past tell us about our own future?
> Council on Foreign Relations “Ten Elections to Watch in 2022”
Numerous countries will hold elections in 2022. Here are ten to watch closely.