The Stakes in Ukraine’s Kursk Offensive, Stopping Mpox Spread, Nuclear Arms Race Returns, and More

The summit of the BRICS group begins in Russia, the first meeting since formally welcoming Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates into the bloc; European leaders discuss migration after a series of calls for speedier deportations and revised asylum processes; Colombia hosts the UN Biodiversity Summit; and Canada expels six Indian diplomats tied to the murder of a Sikh separatist.   Mentioned on the Podcast   “The Drug Lords’ Side-Hustle: Smuggling Macaws, Jaguars and Frogs,” The Economist   “Living Planet Report 2024,” World Wildlife Fund   “A Warning Sign: Where Biodiversity Loss Is Happening Around the World,” World Wildlife Fund   For an episode transcript and show notes, visit The World Next Week at: https://www.cfr.org/podcasts/twnw/russia-hosts-brics-summit-eu-leaders-talk-migration-un-biodiversity-summit-kicks-and-more 

Intelligence officials warn of foreign meddling in the U.S. presidential and congressional elections; Hurricane Milton marks second straight weather blow to the U.S. southeast; this year’s Nobel Peace Prize winner is announced in Norway; and Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico vows to block Ukraine’s bid to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).   Mentioned on the Podcast   The U.S. Election and Foreign Policy, CFR.org   Virtual Media Briefing: Technology and Electoral Dynamics, Council on Foreign Relations and Brookings Institution   “Malala Yousafzai: Nobel Peace Prize Lecture 2014,” Nobel Prize For an episode transcript and show notes, visit The World Next Week at: https://www.cfr.org/podcasts/twnw/meddling-us-elections-florida-reels-twin-storms-nobel-peace-laureate-be-named-and-more 

Hostilities between Iran and Israel reach a new level after Israel’s ground invasion in southern Lebanon and the latest Iranian missile attack on Israel; U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump hold separate town halls to reach undecided Hispanic voters; U.S. President Joe Biden heads to Germany to shore up military support for Ukraine; and Norway considers building a fence on its border with Russia.     Mentioned on the Podcast   One Year Later: U.S. Policy Options in the Israel-Hamas War, Council on Foreign Relations   Virtual Media Briefing: Israel, Gaza, and the Middle East a Year After the Hamas Attack, Council on Foreign Relations   For an episode transcript and show notes, visit The World Next Week at: https://www.cfr.org/podcasts/twnw/iran-israel-escalation-harris-and-trump-seek-hispanic-vote-biden-germany-and-more

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy intensifies efforts to galvanize greater political and financial support; Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) will elect a new leader to become the next prime minister; the United States and Canada each impose a 100 percent tariff on Chinese electric vehicles (EVs); and Sri Lanka’s new president, Marxist Anura Kumara Dissanayake, calls for national elections.     Mentioned on the Podcast   Kimberly Clausing and Mary E. Lovely, “Why Trump's Tariff Proposals Would Harm Working Americans,” Peterson Institute for International Economics   Joshua Yaffa, “Volodymyr Zelenskyy Has a Plan for Ukraine’s Victory,” New Yorker   Sheila A. Smith, “The LDP Leadership Race: Six More Join, a Field of Nine,” CFR.org   Sheila A. Smith, “The LDP Leadership Race: The Early Birds,” CFR.org   For an episode transcript and show notes, visit The World Next Week at: https://www.cfr.org/podcasts/twnw/zelenskyys-diplomatic-drive-japans-new-leader-us-and-canadian-tariffs-chinas-evs-and-more 

The UN General Assembly begins its seventy-ninth high-level debate amid questions about its limited role in resolving major conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East; fears of a wider regional war grow as Hezbollah vows retaliation against Israel after thousands of pagers exploded across Lebanon; U.S. President Joe Biden hosts the leaders of the Quad in Wilmington, Delaware, to strengthen coordination in the Indo-Pacific region; and Russia seeks to add 180,000 troops to its army.   Mentioned on the Podcast   A Conversation With U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield, Council on Foreign Relations   Ronen Bergman, Sheera Frenkel, and Hwaida Saad, “How Israel Built a Modern-Day Trojan Horse: Exploding Pagers,” New York Times   Natalie Caloca and Paul B. Stares, “Security Challenges Cloud UN’s Summit of the Future”, CFR.org   For an episode transcript and show notes, visit The World Next Week at: https://www.cfr.org/podcasts/twnw/un-meets-tense-times-pager-explosions-rattle-hezbollah-bidens-last-quad-summit-and-more 

The U.S. Congress returns from its summer recess to try to pass a budget for federal discretionary programs before the fiscal year ends and avoid a government shutdown; the United States and other Western allies accuse Iran of transferring ballistic missiles to Russia, raising concerns over intensified strikes on Ukraine; Hungary faces a second deadline to pay a $221 million fine for breaking European Union asylum law, which President Viktor Orbán remains unwilling to follow; and China gifts Cambodia two newly built Type 056 corvette warships, raising questions about Beijing’s naval ambitions.   Mentioned on the Podcast   Zongyuan Zoe Liu, “Tracking China’s Control of Overseas Ports,” CFR.org   For an episode transcript and show notes, visit The World Next Week at: https://www.cfr.org/podcasts/twnw/congresss-funding-battle-iran-sends-missiles-russia-orban-defies-eu-and-more 

The United States, Egypt, and Qatar prepare another cease-fire proposal after Hamas killed six Israeli hostages and Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu demanded control of the Philadelphi Corridor along the Gaza-Egypt border; Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump hold their first presidential debate; the Toronto International Film Festival showcases independent films spanning from Hungary to Georgia and more; and the United States seizes Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s plane.     What to Watch at Toronto International Film Festival   Edward Berger, Conclave   William Bridges, All of You   Brady Corbet, The Brutalist   Dea Kulumbegashvili, April   Mentioned on the Podcast   Brett Goldstein, Bill Lawrence, Jason Segel, Shrinking   Brendan Hunt, Joe Kelly, Bill Lawrence, Ted Lasso   For an episode transcript and show notes, visit The World Next Week at: https://www.cfr.org/podcasts/twnw/gazas-troubled-cease-fire-efforts-harris-and-trump-debate-toronto-international-film-fest 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says the incursion into Kursk is an important step towards ending the war with Russia, but Ukraine is facing a major test in its own Donbas battlefields; the intensifying mpox outbreak places additional strain on the Democratic Republic of Congo and surrounding African nations; heightened security tensions spur the United States, keeping nuclear defense planners busy; and the Taliban bans the voices of women and girls in public.    Mentioned on the Podcast   “Countries Should Act Faster to Curb the Spread of Mpox,” The Economist   “If a China and America War Went Nuclear, Who Would Win?,” The Economist   Allison Krugman and Chloe Searchinger, “Mpox Vaccine Tracker: Millions Pledged, Millions Still to Be Delivered,” Think Global Health   David E. Sanger, “Biden Approved Secret Nuclear Strategy Refocusing on Chinese Threat,” New York Times   Lara Seligman, “U.S.-Made F-16 Jet Fighter Crashes in Ukraine,” Wall Street Journal   “Ukraine’s Attack on Kursk, With Liana Fix,” The President’s Inbox   “Ukraine Pushes Into Russia, 2024 DNC Begins, Foreign Hacking Targets Trump and Harris, and More,” The World Next Week   For an episode transcript and show notes, visit The World Next Week at: https://www.cfr.org/podcasts/twnw/stakes-ukraines-kursk-offensive-stopping-mpox-spread-nuclear-arms-race-returns-and-more 

This special episode of The World Next Week features a summerlong feast of reading, watching, and listening treats. Deborah Amos, the Ferris Professor of Journalism in Residence at Princeton University and a former international correspondent for National Public Radio, joins CFR’s TWNW hosts Robert McMahon and Carla Anne Robbins to discuss good reads they recommend, books they are looking forward to reading, and other entertainment they are enjoying this summer.   Mentioned on the Podcast   Bob’s Picks   Elizabeth Kolbert, H Is for Hope: Climate Change from A to Z    Stefan Zweig, The World of Yesterday: Memoirs of a European Carla’s Picks   Steve Coll, The Achilles Trap: Saddam Hussein, the CIA, and the Origins of America's Invasion of Iraq   Peter Pomerantsev, How to Win an Information War: The Propagandist Who Outwitted Hitler  Deborah’s Picks   Jayne Anne Phillips, Night Watch   Nathan Thrall, A Day in the Life of Abed Salama: Anatomy of a Jerusalem Tragedy  Additional Books, Films, Podcasts, Shows and More Mentioned on the Podcast   Books   Russell Baker, Growing Up   Ron Chernow, Grant    Elizabeth Kolbert, The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History   Roy Stewart, The Places In Between   Films   Wes Anderson, The Grand Budapest Hotel   James Bridges, The China Syndrome   George Clooney, Good Night, and Good Luck.   Alex Garland, Civil War    Howard Hawks, His Girl Friday   Roland Joffé, The Killing Fields   Richard Linklater, Hit Man   Sidney Lumet, Network   Alan J. Pakula, All the President's Men   Peter Weir, The Year of Living Dangerously   Podcasts   Alistair Campbell and Rory Stewart, The Rest is Politics, Goalhanger Jon Ronson, Things Fell Apart, BBC Radio 4   Television Shows   Jez Scharf, Bodkin    David Simon, The Wire   Aaron Sorkin, The Newsroom   Other   The Reckoning Project   “Watch the U.S. Stall on Climate Change for 12 Years,” Vox   For an episode transcript and show notes, visit The World Next Week at: https://www.cfr.org/podcasts/twnw-special-what-read-summer-2024 

Ukraine’s surprise incursion of Russia’s Kursk region captures territory and stuns the Kremlin; the Democratic National Convention kicks off in Chicago with concerns of divisions in the party over support for Israel in its war in the Gaza Strip; U.S. intelligence is on high alert after foreign hacking attempts on both former President Donald Trump’s and Vice President Kamala Harris’s presidential campaigns; and Mexico turns down Ukraine’s request for it to uphold warrants to arrest Russian President Vladimir Putin by the International Criminal Court.      Mentioned on the Podcast   Tim Alberta, “Trump Is Planning for a Landslide Win,” The Atlantic   Kevin Collier, Ken Dilanian, and Dan De Luce, “FBI Says It's Investigating Efforts to Hack Trump and Biden-Harris Campaigns,” NBC News   Alina Lobzina and Anton Troianovski, “Ukraine’s Incursion Into Russia Flips the Script on Putin,” New York Times   Jonathan Weisman, “Worried About a Convention Clash, Democrats Woo Uncommitted Delegates,” New York Times For an episode transcript and show notes, visit The World Next Week at: https://www.cfr.org/podcasts/twnw/ukraine-pushes-russia-2024-dnc-begins-foreign-hacking-targets-trump-and-harris-and-more