Eurasian Axis Convene as the Great Powers Meet at Last
Upcoming Free to Join Online Events
3 September 2025 @ 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. (GMT+2), Bruegel, Belgium
Bruegel Annual Meetings 20th Anniversary
Annual Meetings celebrating Bruegel's 20 years will take stock of Europe's long-standing problems and new global challenges such as those posed by the rules-based order, climate change and AI. It will map out crucial steps toward Europe and the world's prosperity and security. It will take account of what can be avoided on our horizon and work proactively toward delineating a brighter horizon of the next twenty years based on forward-thinking and sustainable and resilient strategies and not crisis management. For more information and to register for this online event, see [Bruegel].
3 September 2025 @ 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. (GMT+9), Sasakawa Peace Foundation, Japan
Ocean Decade Fifth Foundations Dialogue Plenary Session
Fifth Foundations Dialogue organized by the Ocean Policy Research Institute of Sasakawa Peace Foundation and IOC-UNESCO will run between September 3-5, 2025, at Tokyo. This is the midpoint of the UN Ocean Decade and it will centre on fast-tracking ocean action within the Asia-Pacific region that is highly dependent on the sea. It seeks to redefine philanthropy's role within ocean governance, conservation, and capacity development toward building strategic partnerships in promoting sustainable and culturally driven stewardship of the sea. For more information and to register for this online event, see [Sasakawa Peace Foundation].
3 September 2025 @ 2:30 p.m. – 4:30 p.m. (GMT+2), The International Institute for Strategic Studies, Czech Republic
IISS Strategic Dossier launch – Progress and Shortfalls in Europe’s Defence: An Assessment
Launch of the IISS Strategic Dossier at the second IISS Prague Defence Summit will take a closer look at Europe's trajectory toward increased defence sovereignty. In the wake of NATO allies' commitment at The Hague Summit in June 2025 to spend 5% of GDP on defence by 2035, the dossier takes stock of developments toward bolstering European capabilities and curbing dependencies within the context of Russia's threat and US pressure toward burden sharing. Key findings and prospects of reaching NATO's new investment targets will be put forward and assessed by Dr Ben Schreer and other experts. For more information and to register for this online event, see [IISS].
3 September 2025 @ 9:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. (GMT+2), The South African Institute of International Affairs, South Africa
Climate Change, a Just Transition and Renewable Energy-Led Industrialisation: Opportunities for BRICS and the AU
South African Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA) will release two flagship Special Reports on BRICS Climate and Just Energy Transitions and Renewable Energy-led Industrialisation of Africa. Drawn from extensive participatory research, the reports map paths of just, inclusive, and adequately resourced transitions, while simultaneously building networks and finance connections. Taking Egypt as a pilot test, the African report establishes a strategic road map toward scaling African renewable energy-led industrialisation. This double launch appeals to a diverse range of stakeholders before mainline global climate negotiations. For more information and to register for this online event, see [SAIIA].
3 September 2025 @ 5:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m. (GMT-6), The Chicago Council on Global Affairs, US
China and the World: How Citizens View Their Country's Global Future
This session will feature results of the first-ever systematic public opinion survey of Chinese foreign policy ever undertaken throughout mainland China by the Carter Center, the Chicago Council, and the Dr. Scholl Foundation. It will consider what average Chinese citizens think about their nation's role in the world and what they think about the United States and multilateral and trade cooperation. Panelists Yawei Liu, Paul Heer, and Dina Smeltz will be moderated by Leslie Vinjamuri and will consider what the survey suggests about comprehension of the U.S.–China relationship and other global relationships. For more information and to register for this online event, visit [The Chicago Council on Global Affairs].
4 September 2025 @ 10:15 a.m. – 12:45 p.m. (GMT-4), The Dialogue, US
ONLINE EVENT: Citizen Security in Context-Local Solutions and Cross-Border Collaboration
This two-panelled online conference deals with citizen insecurity within the Americas and concentrates on Mexico's national and transnational experiences. Subnational experimentation addressing various forms of violence is the subject of the first panel and it highlights context-specific responses and shortcomings of standardised national strategies. U.S.-Mexico cooperation on security is the topic of the second panel and it discusses mutually common problems like arms trafficking, drug trafficking, migration, and transnational crimes. Both of the panels collectively strive to come up with lessons for concerted data-informed and collaborative regional strategies designed to confront growing violence and criminal organisations. For more information and to RSVP for this online event, see [The Dialogue].
4 September 2025 @ 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. (GMT+1), The Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies, UK
The Strategic Cost of Racial Inequity in Defence
This webcast will explore avenues by which defence institutions can move beyond symbolic diversity and become representative, trusted, and resilient. Consisting of perspectives of senior and practising UK defence officials, the panel discussion will span tangible steps toward the formulation of inclusive institutions that bolster national resilience. Actors—from top-level policymakers to early-career practitioners—are encouraged to engage with these questions and ponder the realities pushing the sector now. This panel discussion is chaired by University of Reading's Dr. Dina Rezk. For more information and to book for this online event, see [RUSI].
4 September 2025 @ 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. (GMT+1), Chatham House, UK
Strategic vision or strategic challenge? China’s leadership in a multipolar world
This discussion will critically explore China's rising global ambitions in a more multipolar world. Through initiatives such as the BRI, GSI, and BRICS expansion, China is seeking to project leadership of a system amidst U.S. isolationism making space for greater influence. Following in the wake of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Summit and China's 80th WWII anniversary parade commemorations marking the end of World War II, the event will reflect whether Beijing is forging a new kind of leadership, what Xi Jinping's domestic agenda has wrought on its foreign stance, and what collaborations with Russia and Iran and the Global South are doing to reposition alliance politics—and what can the international community do about it. For more information and to register for this online event, see [Chatham House].
5 September 2025 @ 11:30 p.m. – 6:00 a.m. (GMT+10), Institute for Security Studies, South Africa
US-Africa Futures Summit 2025: from aid to agency
The 3rd US-Africa Futures Summit brings together policymakers, civil society leaders, scholars, and the African diaspora to discuss Africa's emergent global leadership and the US shift toward partnerships based on trade and mutual prosperity rather than aid. Following up on work of the ISS African Futures programme, the summit discusses how African agency is defined and affected by commercial diplomacy and development and governance and global engagement. Organised by Humanity United with principal partners, the conference marks the diaspora's symbolic role in reshaping Africa's role within a multipolar world and promoting strategic US-Africa relations. For more information and to register for this online event, visit [ISS].
8 September 2025 @ 1:30 p.m. – 2:30 p.m. (GMT-4), Harvard: Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation, US
Can We Save American Democracy?
This web event will cover fears about the future of American democracy with a second term of the Trump administration after Steven Levitsky cautioned that it could no longer conform to liberal democratic norms. Virginia Kase Solomón of Common Cause will cover pro-democracy groups' strategies to push back against dangers like changes at the state and national levels of election rules and possible city deployments of the military. Archon Fung will moderate the discussion of activism strategies and their chances and what else can be done to protect democratic institutions. For more information and to register for this online event, see [Harvard].
8 September 2025 @ 10:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. (GMT+8), Yusof Ishak Institute, Singapore
Are Youths Moving to the Right? Insights from Surveys in Indonesia and Thailand
This webinar will analyze fluctuant youth political sentiments in Thailand and Indonesia where youth constitute a majority of the populations. Although usually perceived as progressive and forward-thinking, recent surveys document growing youth support for authoritarianism and nationalism and falling youth support for diversity, equality, and liberal democracy. The panelists will discuss these multifaceted trends of civic action, wellbeing, and societal values and shed light on intergenerational conflict, stagnant youth development, and activism. Comparative insights and overall sociopolitical and policy implications will be evaluated. For more information and to register for this online event, see [Yusof Ishak Institute].
9 September 2025 @ 2:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. (GMT+1), Chatham House, UK
Will ‘peace’ in Ukraine lead to more war?
This webinar will present Chatham House’s scenario analysis, developed with the Kyiv Foresight Foundation, on the uncertain future of the war in Ukraine. Experts from the US and Europe will discuss the conflict’s implications for Ukraine’s sovereignty, European security, and US national interests. With Ukraine facing devastated infrastructure, mass emigration, and deep social trauma, the event will explore key drivers of the war’s outcome and assess the risks of flawed peace agreements for Ukraine and the wider international order. For more information and to register for this online event, see [Chatham House].
9 September 2025 @ 4:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. (GMT+1), Chatham House, UK
Is Geneva heading south?
In this panel conversation, the future of global governance in a multipolar, divided world where the centuries-old role of Geneva as a diplomatic capital is fading will be examined. Symbolising traditional multilateralism with Geneva, the conversation will ponder what new diplomatic hubs might arise where middle powers and regional centres play larger parts. Panelists will consider how changes in power dynamics, American retrenchment, and Beijing's competing vision of order are reordering institutions, negotiations, and the role of civil society in confronting global problems from AI to climate change. For more information and to register for this online event, visit [Chatham House].
9 September 2025 @ 8:30 a.m. (GMT-4), Atlantic Council, US
Building cybersecurity capacity in Sub-Saharan Africa
The Atlantic Council's Cyber Statecraft Initiative and the University of Cape Town Cybersecurity Capacity Centre for Southern Africa will co-host a web conversation on September 9 on education and capacity development and their impact on Sub-Saharan African cybersecurity. It will cover projects designed to advance cyber resilience and policy with training and workforce development. It will also include perspectives from past winners of the Cape Town Cyber 9/12 Strategy Challenge on their career developments in cybersecurity and policy and the impact of the competition. For more information and to RSVP for this online event, visit [Atlantic Council].
Recent Book Releases
Jessica Horn, African Feminist Praxis: Cartographies of Liberatory Worldmaking, SAGE, 168 pages, published December 19, 2024. For a review, see [LSE].
Joan Costa-Font and Matteo M. Galizzi (eds.). , Behavioural Economics and Policy for Pandemics: Insights from Responses to COVID-19, Cambridge University Press, 450 pages, published May 2, 2024. For a review, see [LSE].
Courtney Freer, The Resilience of Parliamentary Politics in Kuwait: Rentierism, Ideology, and Mobilization, Oxford University Press, 328 pages, published June 27 2024. For a review, see [Foreign Affairs].
Michael Patrick Lynch, On Truth in Politics: Why Democracy Demands It, Princeton University Press, 264 pages, published April 15, 2025. For a review, see [Foreign Affairs].
Muyang Chen, The Latecomer’s Rise: Policy Banks and the Globalization of China’s Development Finance, Cornell University Press, 240 pages, published June 15, 2024. For a review, see [Foreign Affairs].
🌍 Top Stories of the Week 27/8 - 2/9
27 August
🇮🇳 🇺🇸 Trump’s 50% tariff on India is now in effect. US-India relations in worst phase since 1999. [Source]
🇮🇱 🇦🇺 Netanyahu accuses Australian PM of 'betraying' Israel. [Source] - Iran FM supporting Netanyahu in his statement.
🇺🇸 🇪🇺 Trump wants European troops in Ukraine in exchange for “some security guarantees”. [Source]
🇩🇪 German car industry sheds 51,500 jobs in a year. [Source]
28 August
🇬🇧 🇪🇺 🇷🇺 UK and EU summon top Russian diplomats after strikes hit British Council and EU offices in deadly attack on Kyiv. Russian strike on Kyiv kills at least 18. [Source]
EU mission and British council in Kyiv hit in deadly Russian attack. [Source]
29 August
🇵🇱 Polish Air Force F-16 fighter jet crashes during air show rehearsal, killing pilot. [Source]
🇮🇳 🇺🇸 India's Russian oil imports set to rise in September in defiance of US. [Source]
🇯🇵 Japan unveils record $60 billion defence budget including SHIELD drone system. Japan is strengthening its military prioritising drones and long-range missiles. [Source]
30 August
🇷🇺 🇮🇳 Russian President Putin to visit India in December, Kremlin says. Putin will also meet PM Modi at a regional summit in China on September 1. [Source]
🇮🇱 Netanyahu warns Trump supporters: ‘You Can’t Be MAGA if You’re Anti-Israel’. [Source]
🇻🇪 🇺🇸 Trump orders 7 warships carrying 4,500 personnel to waters off Venezuela. +3 guided-missile destroyers, at least one attack submarine. Possible coup operation. [Source]
🇺🇸 Trump’s tariff are not legal, US appeals court rules. [Source]
🇮🇳 🇨🇳 PM Modi lands in China. Putin - Xi Jinping - Modi is set to meet for SCO summit. [Source]
🇮🇳 🇷🇺 Russian President Putin to visit India in December. [Source]
🇨🇳 According to International Energy Agency, China solar will now expand so fast that by the early 2030s, country will generate more power from the sun than the amount of electricity the US will consume altogether”. [Source]
🇮🇳 🇺🇸 Trump ‘no longer has plans’ to visit India for Quad Summit. [Source]
31 August
🇷🇺 🇺🇦 Russia Will Continue. Strikes Against Ukraine, Says Russian Top General. Trump’s peace plan is not working. [Source]
🇮🇳 🇨🇳 Modi meets Xi Jinping. Putin lands in China. Trump’s foreign policy has brought 3 of the 4 world’s most powerful nations together in one place. [Source]
🇮🇳 🇺🇸 Trump wanted Modi to nominate him for the Nobel Peace Prize. Modi said No. Later, Modi didn’t respond to Trump’s calls, considering Trump will post anything on Truth Social regardless of talks. [Source]
🇮🇱 🇾🇪 Israeli strike kills Houthi-run Yemeni PM, several ministers in Sanaa. [Source]
🇮🇩 Indonesia’s president cancels China trip and TikTok suspends live video as deadly protests continue. [Source]
1 September
🇩🇪 German Chancellor Merz on the Ukraine war: I am preparing myself inwardly for the possibility that this war could go on for a long time. [Source]
🇮🇳 🇦🇿 India blocked Azerbaijan's bid for full membership in the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation. [Source]
🇮🇱 Israel weighs West Bank annexations in response to Palestine recognition push. [Source]
Gaza postwar plan envisions ‘voluntary’ relocation of entire population - the Trump plan, leaving the home they stayed to protect. [Source]
2 September
🇺🇸 🇪🇺US is pushing Europe to halt all Russian oil and gas purchases and impose secondary tariffs on India and China. [Source]
🇺🇸 🇮🇱Trump acknowledges Israel is losing control of congress. Israel no longer commands strongest influence in Washington as public opinion shifts. Bad joke in my opinion. [Source]
