Where once disagreements concerned differing interpretations of liberalism’s demands or balancing liberalism’s conflicting goals of freedom and equality, now populist movements on both the left and the right are challenging the legitimacy of liberalism itself.
The money behind Ron DeSantis’s populist façade
The war in Ethiopia and its crimes against civilians
A selection of three essential articles read aloud from the latest issue of The Economist. This week, how China’s reopening will disrupt the world economy, a realistic path to a better relationship between Britain and the EU (8:54) and reinventing the Indo-Pacific (17:35).
The Guardian Weekly (December 23, 2022) issue:
As we near the end of another tumultuous year, one story has dominated the news agenda on almost every level. Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine in February had been signposted for months, but the shattering of Europe’s postwar order still came as a seismic shock.
The economic and human cost inflicted by Russia on Ukraine has been enormous, while the concurrent shock waves of energy, food and migration crises have reverberated around the world. In a special essay for the final Guardian Weekly magazine of 2022, diplomatic editor Patrick Wintour examines the competing grand narratives of the past that lie at the heart of the conflict – and which make it so difficult to resolve.
In other reflections on 2022, we look back at a year of scientific successes, from medicine to mathematics via the moon. From the Observer, we remember those we lost over the course of the year, by those who knew them best. There’s a stunning photo gallery featuring work from the agency photographers of the year, and a comprehensive look at the best film and music of 2022 – not forgetting the now traditional roundup of the Guardian Weekly team’s must-see TV.
From Montreal came some hopeful news to round off an otherwise alarming year for the environment. The Cop15 biodiversity summit reached international agreement to try to halt the destruction of Earth’s ecosystems, including targets to protect 30% of the planet for nature by the end of the decade and restore 30% of degraded water, coastal and marine ecosystems. Biodiversity reporters Patrick Greenfield and Phoebe Weston have the details.
A selection of three essential articles read aloud from the latest issue of The Economist. This week, a looming Russian offensive, why the rich world’s politicians are giving up on growth (10:00) and can the French nuclear industry avoid meltdown? (16:25),
Ukraine’s chiefs, in an unprecedented series of briefings, tell The Economist about the critical months that lie ahead
Even when they say they want more prosperity, they act as if they don’t
As the world turns back to nuclear power, it should heed the lessons from France
December 11, 2022: A selection of three essential articles read aloud from the latest issue of The Economist. This week features ‘The End of Cheap Money’, Britain’s Second-Tier Cities & The Age of ‘Boring AI‘.
A selection of three essential articles read aloud from the latest issue of The Economist. This week, Xi Jinping’s zero-covid policy, why trustbusters should let Microsoft buy Activision Blizzard (11:44) and why emigration is in the air for Britons (16:38).
A selection of three essential articles read aloud from the latest issue of The Economist. This week, Europe’s crisis of energy and geopolitics, how crypto goes to zero (10:19) and the consequences of America’s success against organised crime (16:32).
This will weaken it and threaten its global position
Hollywood is suffering from the brutal economics of streaming
Europe should let them do their jobs
Cop27’s climate anticlimax: inside the 25 November Guardian Weekly | Cop27 | The Guardian
Cop27 ended in a now-traditional blur of last-minute horse-trading, resulting in the welcome agreement of a finance deal for developing countries affected by global heating. But progress on eliminating fossil fuel usage – the key to slowing climate change – again seemed beyond the international community.
As winter descends on Ukraine, we focus on some of the war’s ripples around Europe. Jennifer Rankin reports from Antwerp, where the continued trade in Russian diamonds shines a light on loopholes in EU sanctions on Moscow. And Emma Graham-Harrison is in eastern Poland, where people’s proximity to the war is helping people to put aside past differences.
Then, in features, Luke Harding speaks to the Ukrainian defenders of Snake Island – who famously sent an expletive-laden rebuttal to a Russian warship at the start of the conflict – and finds out what happened next.
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