The Globalist Podcast (November 24, 2023) – As a four-day ceasefire is announced in the Israel-Hamas conflict, we look at how the first two hours of humanitarian pause have unfolded and what comes next.
Plus: Finland closes all but one of its border crossings with Russia, what the Dutch election results mean for the right in Europe and the historic HMV shop on London’s Oxford Street reopens.
The Globalist Podcast (November 23, 2023) – Israel and Hamas are due to exchange hostages this morning but will it actually happen and what comes next?
We also discuss the virtual G20 summit, hear why Poland’s plans to create a major aviation hub have hit turbulence and assess what the calls for an Olympic Truce at the Paris games is all about. Plus: we meet iconic sculptor Antony Gormley.
The Globalist Podcast (November 22, 2023) – The latest from the Middle East as Israel and Hamas agree on a hostage deal.
Then we discuss Ukraine’s special operation on the Dnipro river with defense specialist Alessio Patalano. And as voters head to the polls in the Netherlands, we ask whether the elections are a litmus test for European politics. Plus: the Guggenheim appoints its first female director.
The Globalist Podcast (November 21, 2023) – News from the Israel-Gaza conflict and discuss South Korean president Yoon Suk Yeol’s visit to the UK.
Also. Andrew Mueller sits down with Timo Kivinen, commander of the Finnish Defence Forces, to find out more about Finland’s recent border tensions with Russia. Plus: music news with Will Hodgkinson, pop and rock critic at ‘The Times’.
The Globalist Podcast (November 20, 2023) – We discuss Vladimir Putin’s position on the Israel-Hamas war and the outcome of Argentina’s presidential election.
Also in the programme: Daniel Gorman, director of English Pen, tells us about the state of books and literature in Ukraine and Carlota Rebelo interviews Christian Kroll, CEO of sustainable search engine Ecosia.
A letter from the editor of The World Ahead
By Tom Standage
Life comes at you fast. Whether it’s the upsurge in armed conflict, the redrawing of the global energy-resources map or rapid progress in artificial intelligence (ai), the world is changing at mind-boggling speed. From the situation in the Middle East to the adoption of electric vehicles to the treatment of obesity, things look very different from the way they did just a year or two ago. Our aim is to help you keep your worldview up to date—and tell you what might be coming next. To kick things off, here are ten themes to watch in the coming year.
In theory it should be a triumphant year for democracy. In practice it will be the opposite
By Zanny Minton Beddoes
More than half the people on the planet live in countries that will hold nationwide elections in 2024, the first time this milestone has been reached. Based on recent patterns of voter turnout, close to 2bn people in more than 70 countries will head to the polls. Ballots will be cast from Britain to Bangladesh, from India to Indonesia. Yet what sounds like it should be a triumphant year for democracy will be the opposite.
The fragility of the Western coalition is a crucial weakness
By Patrick Foulis
As 2023 drew to a close, wars were raging in Africa, Israel and Gaza, and Ukraine. These crises are explosive in their own right. Combine them with a presidential race in America and 2024 promises to be a make-or-break year for the post-1945 world order.
The 2020s were destined to be dangerous. The West’s share of world gdp has fallen towards 50% for the first time since the 19th century. Countries such as India and Turkey believe the global institutions created after 1945 do not reflect their concerns. China and Russia want to go further and subvert this system.
The Guardian Weekly (November 3, 2023) – The new issue features Bletchley Park, the main center of allied second world war codebreakers, and it’s no coincidence that the English country house was chosen as the venue for this week’s landmark summit on safety in artificial intelligence. The age of AI brings opportunities but also significant risks, as a number of experts in the field outlined in an open letter last week.
Global technology editor Dan Milmo discusses the pros and cons with one of the technology’s leading thinkers, Demis Hassabis, the CEO of Google DeepMind, who says the rise of AI must be thought of as seriously as the climate crisis. Then, Observer columnist Sonia Sodha argues that calling for AI to be reined in is not simply a sign of luddism.
As Israeli forces entered Gaza this week, Bethan McKernan and Rory Carroll report for us on the increasingly unbearable nature of life in the besieged enclave, and there’s expert analysis and commentary from Julian Borger, Peter Beaumont and Jason Burke.
The Guardian Weekly (October 27, 2023) – The new issue features International security corespondent Jason Burke traceing the possible route to a wider war or, in the other direction, to at least a pause in hostilities.
Elsewhere, Ruth Michaelson and Julian Borger hear from terrified Gazans who have been pushed south, while Emma Graham-Harrison, Julian and Ruth consider the likely consequences of a “victorious” Israeli ground offensive.
There’s also a report on rising antisemitism against Jewish people across Europe since the 7 October Hamas terror attack on Israel and the subsequent Israeli bombardment of Gaza. And in the Opinion section, Jonathan Freedland and Nesrine Malik offer powerful perspectives on the conflict.
With much attention ranged on the Middle East, the war in Ukraine has fallen a little from the spotlight. Pjotr Sauer reports from Belgrade, where some young Serbs have been signing up to fight for Russia despite the risk of prosecution at home.
Tributes were paid this week after the death of Sir Bobby Charlton, the former Manchester United and England footballing legend. The Observer’s former football correspondent Paul Wilson remembers a player who became virtually synonymous with the English game.
The Guardian Weekly (October 20, 2023) – The new issue features escalating events in Israel and Gaza that continue to cause deep distress and alarm, with several thousand people known to be dead or wounded on either side of the border. US president Joe Biden was expected to visit Israel this week, amid growing expectations of a ground invasion of Gaza and fears of a wider regional escalation.
Also, a primer on the historical background to events by Chris McGreal, while on the opinion pages the Israeli author and historian Yuval Noah Harari and Guardian US columnist Naomi Klein provide thoughtful and grounded perspectives.
There was sadness for many Aboriginal Australians after a move to recognise Indigenous people in the country’s constitution was rejected in a referendum, as Sarah Collard and Elias Visontay report. Also from Oceania, Henry Cooke examines what aspects of Jacinda Ardern’s political legacy might survive after New Zealand elected a new conservative government.
From Egypt to Hong Kong, the 2010s were a decade when mass protest movements looked set to change the world. But in most cases, the hope embodied by many massive street demonstrations was soon crushed by authoritarian regimes. Vincent Bevins asks organisers and others who were there where it all went wrong.
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