FP This Week: Join our UNGA events in New York next month

Also, the significance of Olaf Scholz and the next generation of BRICS. AUGUST 29, 2023  |  [VIEW IN BROWSER](  |  [SUBSCRIBE](     Next month is the U.N. General Assembly (UNGA) session in New York. It’s the largest gathering of dignitaries, diplomats, and policymakers in Turtle Bay since before the COVID-19 pandemic, and Foreign Policy will be there, too—hosting an exciting [lineup]( of dialogues and networking opportunities. There is no shortage of urgent challenges for leaders to address, including the ongoing response to [Russia’s war]( against Ukraine; the world’s cascading climate [catastrophes](, as the secretary-general convenes his Climate Ambition Summit; and the state of [global health]( beyond the pandemic. Also, this year’s convening stands at about the halfway point to the 2030 deadline for implementing the critical Sustainable Development Goals on these issues and more. The UNGA has historically been an opportunity to make the inner workings of multilateralism open to all, and FP’s schedule of conversations is designed with accessibility in mind. We invite readers on the ground, as well as guests tuning in from around the world, to engage on solutions to ensure an equitable and prosperous future. Check out the full calendar of events below—and [register]( to join us. Tuesday, Sept. 19Join us for a public [briefing]( on urban cardiovascular health and the transformative potential of technology and data in addressing the problem globally, with David Sengeh, Sierra Leone’s chief minister, and other experts. Wednesday, Sept. 20The day begins with a [spotlight]( on the health challenges posed by climate change and how investments in climate adaptation can improve health equity. This sets the stage for [FP’s Health Forum](, which will examine existing gaps, challenges, and opportunities for the future of global health. In the afternoon, the [Food+ Forum]( will convene experts to explore strengthening food security amid complex challenges including fractured global supply chains, competition over water, deforestation, and climate change. Speakers include Mavis Hawa Koomson, Ghanaian minister for fisheries and aquaculture development, and Zainab Salbi, co-founder, Daughters for Earth, and founder, Women for Women International. That evening, join us for a [conversation]( on the role of diagnostics in universal health coverage and global health security. Hear from Ong Ye Kung, Singapore’s minister for health; Dr. Ayoade Alakija, the World Health Organization’s special envoy for the Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator, and more. Thursday, Sept. 21Two events will examine the role of technology in shaping international relations, with a particular focus on cybersecurity and artificial intelligence. [FP’s Tech Forum]( will include conversations with Nathaniel Fick, U.S. ambassador-at-large for cyberspace and digital policy, and Amandeep Singh Gill, the U.N. secretary-general’s envoy on technology. And, in the afternoon, Izumi Nakamitsu, U.N. undersecretary-general of disarmament affairs, and U.S. Amb. Bonnie Jenkins, undersecretary of state for arms control and international security, will take the stage as part of an [event]( to launch [Digital Front Lines](, a new FP Analytics report on the impact and implications of increasing cyberattacks. Also on Thursday, [FP’s Energy Forum]( will look at the global energy transition, with a particular emphasis on decarbonization, electrification, and resilience. And for podcast fans—join us for a [live taping]( of FP’s Global Reboot podcast, hosted by editor in chief Ravi Agrawal, and a reception toasting the week at FP’s UNGA hub with cocktails and appetizers. All events will be held in New York, and most will be streamed live on ForeignPolicy.com. [Register]( for all events and sign up for program agendas, speaker announcements, and program updates. See you in New York!   New & Noteworthy - The West’s Olaf Scholz Era: Germany’s chancellor represents—for better or worse—the future of progressive politics, asserts a new [argument]( from John Kampfner. With Scholz’s coalition factious, Germany’s economy sputtering, and the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party resurgent, Kampfner explores the challenges facing postwar Germany’s ninth chancellor and argues Scholz’s success is crucial not just to the fate of his own nation, but the entire continent. - Following the Death of Yevgeny Prigozhin: Following the dramatic death of the leader of the infamous Wagner Group mercenary outfit last week, FP writers ask: What’s next for the Wagner Group? “Putin won’t let go of a good thing,” FP’s Robbie Gramer and Jack Detsch wrote in last week’s [Situation Report](. Clara Broekaert and Colin P. Clarke [write]( that “the way Prigozhin was killed—executed mafia-style in such a spectacularly violent and grisly manner—not only sends a clear message to others who would dare defy Putin, but it also fits with the brand Prigozhin built for himself and the Wagner Group he controlled.” But Mark Lawrence Schrad [suggests]( that a dead Prigozhin won’t stop tales of a weak President Vladimir Putin, and that some commonly held interpretations of the Wagner saga are more imaginative than analytical. - BRICS+: Last week’s summit of BRICS nations in Johannesburg, South Africa, culminated in the existing economic bloc (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) announcing that Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates will join its ranks next year, with far-ranging implications. Catherine Osborn [explains]( why South America is upping its bet on the coalition, undeterred by Western pressure, and Nosmot Gbadamosi [details]( how the idea of a non-dollarized economy has strong appeal across Africa. Enlargement may be a sign not of the group’s strength, but of China’s growing influence, Oliver Stuenkel [argued]( recently. This development again underscores the increasing weight of the global south’s middle powers on the future of geopolitics, which should be an increasing focus of U.S. policy, as Eurasia Group Chairman Cliff Kupchan [wrote]( in Foreign Policy in June.   FP Live The World’s Most Important Alliances Sept. 5 | 11 a.m. EDTHow are alliances shaping geopolitics? Is the West correct in prioritizing like-minded clubs over reforming the postwar multilateral institutions it helped create? Join Princeton University scholar G. John Ikenberry, a contributor to FP’s Fall print issue, for a discussion with editor in chief Ravi Agrawal. [Register here.]( Where is the real work of diplomacy actually getting done? Become an annual subscriber by Aug. 31 to receive the upcoming print issue, which examines the alliances that have become increasingly vital to diplomacy with contributions from C. Raja Mohan, Jo Inge Bekkevold, Bonny Lin, and former U.K. Prime Minister Gordon Brown. [Get the magazine.]( Historian Heather Cox Richardson on American Democracy Sept. 26 | 11 a.m. EDTRichardson has long grappled with questions of how democracy has weakened in the United States and how its citizenry can try to take back control. That topic is the focus of her new book, Democracy Awakening: Notes on the State of America, and she’ll take questions from subscribers in a conversation with FP’s Ravi Agrawal. [Register here.](   Exercise Your Mind Which giant panda will not be returning from Smithsonian’s National Zoo in Washington to China in early December when the Smithsonian’s current agreement with the Chinese government to house pandas at the zoo expires? - Xiao Qi Ji - Mei Xiang - Tian Tian - Bao Bao You can find the answer to this question at the end of this email.   Expert voices, intelligent analysis. [Get FP access today](.   Most Popular on FP [Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi gestures during a plenary session at the BRICS summit at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg on Aug. 23. ]( [Modi’s ‘Tiger Warrior’ Diplomacy Is Harming India’s Interests]( Hindu nationalist attitudes are alienating other nations. By Kunal Purohit [Protesters cheer for Nigerien troops as they gather in front of the French Embassy in Niamey, Niger's capital, during a demonstration in support of Niger's new junta on July 30.]( [Is Niger’s Coup the Sahel’s Last Straw?]( Calls grow for Washington to reset its Africa strategy, but old habits die hard. By Robbie Gramer [People walk down a street in the Chinatown section of the city of Yokohama, south of Tokyo, on Jan. 7. ]( [Adam Tooze: Why Japan’s Economy Is Surging]( COVID bounce back pushes second-quarter GDP to 6 percent, annualized. By Cameron Abadi [A refugee arrives at the Roxham Road border crossing at the U.S.-Canada border in Champlain, New York, on March 25.]( [Is Canada Really So Immigrant-Friendly?]( Trudeau’s ambitious plan to increase immigration is facing pushback from the left and right. By Claire Porter Robbins [Vanuatu Prime Minister Ishmael Kalsakau speaks during a visit by French President Emmanuel Macron at the premier’s office in Vanuatu’s capital city of Port Vila on July 27.]( [Vanuatu’s PM Struggles for Political Survival Amid U.S.-China Tumult]( Pacific nations are bearing the brunt of the new cold war. By Christopher Cottrell [Modi’s ‘Tiger Warrior’ Diplomacy Is Harming India’s Interests]( Hindu nationalist attitudes are alienating other nations. By Kunal Purohit [Is Niger’s Coup the Sahel’s Last Straw?](Calls grow for Washington to reset its Africa strategy, but old habits die hard. By Robbie Gramer [Adam Tooze: Why Japan’s Economy Is Surging](COVID bounce back pushes second-quarter GDP to 6 percent, annualized. By Cameron Abadi [Is Canada Really So Immigrant-Friendly?](Trudeau’s ambitious plan to increase immigration is facing pushback from the left and right. By Claire Porter Robbins [Vanuatu’s PM Struggles for Political Survival Amid U.S.-China Tumult](Pacific nations are bearing the brunt of the new cold war. By Christopher Cottrell   How Ukraine’s Trains Are Adapting to War An intensive care unit car on a hospital car—pictured in Kyiv on July 3—holds beds for five patients. Alan Chin for Foreign Policy In a new [essay](, journalist and photographer Alan Chin chronicles the state of Ukraine’s national railway service, after a year and a half of wartime, and the ongoing challenges of continuing operations under fire while simultaneously trying to restore a sense of normalcy and innovating for the future. Nights in Ukraine are short in summer. So at twilight on a July evening, the lights of the main railroad station in the capital were still off as stretchers of the wounded were unloaded from a hospital train. The casualties had come in from the east. A bearded man with a bloody bandage and metal fixator on his arm stared stoically at the sky as his stretcher was moved onto the platform. Another sat upright, clutching his documents with his remaining hand, the stump of a freshly amputated right arm hidden under a clean blue T-shirt. There was little conversation. More than a dozen injured passengers were met by ambulance crews, then came several who could walk, and then the train cars were empty. By the time the unloading was finished, over an hour later at 10 p.m., it was completely dark. Hospital trains were first introduced during the Crimean War in the 1850s running along tracks not far from the ones they traverse today. Since World War II, hospital trains have mostly faded from memory, at least in Europe. Their reappearance—now equipped with intensive care unit (ICU) rail cars—is one of the ways in which Ukraine’s national railway service, Ukrzaliznytsia, has adapted to war. Read Chin’s [feature]( to see his portfolio of scenes and stories throughout the war-torn country.   Answer: D. Bao Bao, who returned to China in 2017. Amid frosty U.S.-China relations, Mei Xiang, Tian Tian, and their latest cub, Xiao Qi Ji, may be the last in a long line of pandas to reside in Washington. Read FP’s Rishi Iyengar’s [dispatch]( on the uncertain future of [panda diplomacy](. [Global Problems Call for FP Solutions]( Foreign Policy enables partners to make a mark on the global stage through high-profile events, ground-breaking analysis, award-winning podcasts, bespoke crisis simulations, and targeted advertising campaigns. [Explore FP’s world-class solutions]( to elevate our partners’ thought leadership and engage our global, influential audience.   [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Instagram]( [LinkedIn]( You’re receiving this email at {EMAIL} because you signed up for the FP This Week newsletter. 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