FP This Week: Xi’s Big Week

Plus: Test yourself on world politics. [Foreign Policy This Week]( October 17, 2022 | [View in browser]( To access all the benefits of an FP subscription, [sign in]( or [subscribe](. Thanks for reading. This week, Xi Jinping is set to secure an unprecedented third term as head of the Chinese Communist Party. As Xi tightens his grip on power, FP brings you behind the scenes of China’s 20th Party Congress. A central theme of our coverage is: Who, if anyone, can counter Xi’s authority? What about the “Immortals,” party elders who in years past have stepped in at decisive points to alter the course of history? “The old guard,” [reports]( Melinda Liu from Beijing, “is more likely to feel alienated from or even angry at Xi than supportive of him.” Deng Yuwen takes a [close look]( at Xi’s enemies, concluding they are “disunited, fearful, unable to organize.” With Xi’s control largely unencumbered, FP contributors examine the agenda for his next term. Many observers have compared him to a second coming of Mao Zedong; as Christopher Marquis [argues]( Xi’s industrial-oriented campaigns, as with the Great Leap Forward, are untethered to economic realities. Meanwhile, Julia Lovell [compares and contrasts]( Xi with Deng Xiaoping, whose solution to China’s complex ills in the 1980s was “modernization.” The path forward is less clear for Xi, who faces tough choices on how to restore the country’s economic momentum, FP’s Howard W. French [contends](. While it’s “Xi forever” in Beijing this week, many questions about China’s future remain uncertain. Here to help our subscribers with theirs is FP’s James Palmer, who will host a live China Brief chat this Thursday from 3 to 4 p.m. EDT. If you’d like to submit a question ahead of time, you can do so [here]( Editors Image credit: Mark Harris Illustration for Foreign Policy --------------------------------------------------------------- New and Noteworthy - The Long Game: In the season opener of FP’s sports podcast, host Ibtihaj Muhammad interviews Nneka Ogwumike, the president of the Women’s National Basketball Players Association, about the league’s efforts to keep the spotlight on Brittney Griner, an eight-time WNBA All-Star who was [sentenced]( to nine years in a Russian prison in August. Listen on [Apple Podcasts](, [Spotify](, or wherever you get your podcasts. - Why Gulf Countries Should Step Up: To understand the “three C’s” that led us to the food crisis and how to fix them, FP spoke with Arif Husain, the chief economist at the World Food Program. FP Executive Editor Amelia Lester spoke with Husain as part of [FP Live](. 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[Join FP’s James Palmer]( as well as Beijing-based reporter Melinda Liu and Evan S. Medeiros, the chair of Asian studies at Georgetown University, for answers and insights. Live on Oct. 24 | 11 a.m. EDT --------------------------------------------------------------- Exercise Your Mind After a year of political deadlock under President Barham Salih, Iraq’s parliament has chosen whom to be the country’s next president? - Mustafa al-Kadhimi - Abdul Latif Rashid - Mohammed Shia al-Sudani - Moqtada al-Sadr You can find the answer to this question at the end of this email. [Click here]( to take the rest of our weekly news quiz—and [sign up]( to get the quiz direct to your inbox every Friday. --------------------------------------------------------------- Most Popular on FP - [Who Are Xi’s Enemies?]( by Deng Yuwen - [The Thaw on Russia’s Periphery Has Already Started]( by Daniel B. 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