December 8, 2021

Weekly World News Update

Biden and Putin Square Off in 2-Hour Call; Myanmar's Guilty Verdict; Afghanistan: "A Country in Trouble"; Political Chaos in Austria; Merkel Leaves Office; Biden's Summit for Democracy; U.S. Boycott of Beijing Olympics

Biden and Putin Square Off in 2-Hour Call

"Here Are Five Takeaways from the Biden-Putin Call" Michael Crowley -- New York Times, December 7, 2021 "Biden Meets Putin: What Lies Behind Russia's Military Build-Up" Kadri Liik -- European Council on Foreign Relations, December 7, 2021 "Biden Is Running Out of Time to Help Ukraine Fend Off Russia" Amy Mackinnon; Jack Detsch; Robbie Gramer -- Foreign Policy, December 6, 2021 "What Sanctions Could the U.S. Hit Russia With If It Invades Ukraine?" Julian Borger -- The Guardian, December 7, 2021 Photo Reuters

Myanmar's Guilty Verdict

"The Political Obituary of Aung San Suu Kyi" Timothy McLaughlin -- The Atlantic, December 7, 2021 "A 'Guilty' Verdict for Aung San Suu Kyi Will Fuel Myanmar’s Civil War" The Economist, December 6, 2021 "Myanmar's Junta Condemned Over Guilty Verdicts in Aung San Suu Kyi Trial" Rebecca Ratcliffe -- The Guardian, December 6, 2021 "Myanmar’s Ousted Leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s Sentence Reduced From Four Years to Two Years After ‘Partial Pardon’" Bhavan Jaipragas and Min Ye Kyaw -- South China Morning Post, December 6, 2021

Afghanistan: "A Country In Trouble" Watch our inaugural Global Women's Lecture Series for more on Afghanistan

"Afghanistan: Girls Despair as Taliban Confirms Secondary School Ban" Hugo Williams and Ali Hamedani -- BBC News, December 7, 2021 "When Terrorists Govern: How the Taliban's Takeover Is Inspiring Other Jihadis" Colin Clarke -- Foreign Affairs, December 8, 2021 "Malala Yousafzai Meets with Blinken to Advocate for Women and Girls in Afghanistan" Libby Cathey and Conor Finnegan -- ABC News, December 6, 2021 "UK's Kabul Evacuation Effort Risked Afghan Lives: Whistleblower" Al Jazeera, December 7, 2021 Photo Getty Images

Political Chaos in Austria

"Sebastian Kurz, Former Conservative Wunderkind and Austrian Chancellor, Prompts Government Crisis by Quitting Politics" Denise Hruby and Rick Noack -- Washington Post, December 2, 2021 "Austria: Karl Nehammer Sworn In as New Chancellor" Deutsche Welle, December 6, 2021 "Sebastian Kurz: Austria's Millennial Chancellor Makes Grubby Exit" Liam Hoare -- The New Statesman, December 3, 2021 Photo Reuters

Merkel Steps Down After 16 Years

"Olaf Scholz: Germany's New Chancellor Is Level-Headed and Pragmatic" Sabine Kinkartz -- Deutsche Welle, December 8, 2021 "How Germany's New Foreign Policy May Differ from Merkel's Government" NPR, December 7, 2021 "Marking Merkel" Michael Ovaska and Paul Carrel -- Reuters, September 14, 2021

Biden's Summit for Democracy

"Global Views of Biden's Democracy Summit" Carnegie Endowment for Peace, December 6, 2021 "Biden's 'Summit for Democracy' Includes Countries That Hardly Seem to Qualify" Ashley Parker and John Hudson -- Washington Post, December 6, 2021 "How Biden's 'Democracy Summit' Might Benefit the Americas" Oliver Stuenkel -- Americas Quarterly, December 7, 2021 "The Awkward Guests: Parsing the Summit for Democracy Invitation List" Ted Piccone -- Brookings Institution, December 7, 2021 Photo Associated Press

U.S. Boycott of Beijing Olympics Sparks Controversy

"White House Makes It Official: No U.S. Delegation to Attend Beijing 2022 Olympics" Shannon Tiezi -- The Diplomat, December 7, 2021 "The Debate Over Boycotting the 2022 Beijing Olympics" Lindsay Maizland -- Council on Foreign Relations, December 6, 2021 "China Threatens to Derail Joint Climate Action Over U.S. Olympics Boycott" John Feng -- Newsweek, December 7, 2021