iplomatic Courier’s staff has “gone sledding!” As we head into the holiday season, we’re switching off the lights to conserve electricity and our collective sanity. There are some exciting things coming up in early 2023, so we’re taking the rest of 2022 to recharge and reconnect with friends and family. We hope you’ll be able to do the same!
Just because we’re off to the nearest snow-covered slope for some sledding doesn’t mean we’re planning to leave you without anything to read. Over the past several months we’ve had a lot of great content—it’s been perhaps our busiest and best year to date—so we wanted to highlight some reads that you may have missed. Hopefully these pieces help you get through the holiday lull and give you something to think about as we try to make 2023 an even better year.
Season’s greetings to you and yours and wishing everybody a better 2023.
Geopolitics
It’s been a tense year geopolitically, from active conflicts to collapsing states to fraught diplomacy. Here are four of Diplomatic Courier’s key articles surveying this tense landscape.
Iran and Azerbaijan: Regional Rivals or Economic Partners?
It is unclear if Azerbaijan and Iran want to develop close economic ties or if they are preparing for a potential large-scale conflict. As these two countries try to manage their bilateral ties, their relations with other countries in the region may be at risk, writes Nikola Mikovic.
Geopolitical Tectonic Shifts Complicate Business Strategies
Geopolitical developments have been coming at us faster and more furiously. It is important to understand and integrate consideration of these developments into business strategy and risk governance, and GEC Risk Advisory founder Andrea Bonime-Blanc suggests four tactics to accomplish that.
What Caused the Ukraine War?
Russia’s war in Ukraine is the most disruptive conflict that Europe has seen since 1945. How can we discern the origins of this war that may last for years? The Ukraine war was not inevitable, but it did become increasingly probable over time, writes Harvard’s Joseph S. Nye.
Afghanistan's Girls and Women Fight Back
Thousands of Afghan women and girls have taken to the streets to protest the repeated violation of their right to an education. Afghan women and girls are fighting for their rights, but they need help, writes former British PM Gordon Brown and Education Cannot Wait’s Yasmine Sherif.
Climate & Energy
COP27 is in the books, but the jury is still out over whether the summit succeeded in building momentum toward delivering COP26’s aims. Meanwhile, the climate continues to change. Here are four of Diplomatic Courier’s articles discussing climate change from angles not typically touched on.
A New Toolkit for Communicating Climate Action
We need a new approach to communicating climate action that invites people in. At World in 2050’s inaugural Innovation Lab, delegates to the Climate & Energy Committee considered fundamental principles for how climate advocates can speak more productively with those opposed to robust climate action.
Learning by Candlelight: Energy Resilience Lessons When the Lights Went Out
Instances of energy grid vulnerability in recent years highlight how disruptive and damaging climate change will be. Building more resilient, redundant, and diversified grids is important, but so are strategic risk sharing models similar to financial institutions, writes Circle's Dante Disparte.
ESD for ESG: Education for Sustainable Development
Today, we face unprecedented global challenges. However, by promoting “ESD for ESG,” we can work together across different disciplines and sectors to blend their knowledge, theories, and expertise to develop comprehensive solutions, write Dr. Carol O’Donnell and Hina Baloch.
Ensuring Our Future Requires Insuring Today
As climate-related disasters increase, insurers need to rethink their approach to insuring against the risks posed by climate change. If insurers want to stay in business, they must make combatting climate change part of their business model, writes Risk Cooperative CEO Andres Franzetti.
Future of Education
Education is in crisis, and there is a growing sense that we need an education transformation rather than reform. Here are four of Diplomatic Courier’s articles considering just how bad things are in some spaces and what good transformation should look like.
Responsive, Contextualized Education is a Human Right
In standardizing what education is foundational and what isn’t, schools fail to prepare youth to navigate life experiences or confront the systemic inequities they will surely face. Students need an education that is connected to their current reality and context, writes Kizazi’s Romana Shaikh.
Afghans Hold Out Little Hope for Next Generation
A record-low 11% of Afghans surveyed by Gallup this year in late July and August—roughly marking the one-year anniversary of the Taliban’s takeover—say children in their country have the opportunity to learn and grow, report Gallup’s Khorshied Nusratty and Julie Ray.
A Grand Vision, Still Within Reach
For perhaps the first time in history, a generation of young adults throughout the world is within reach of the possibility of taking full control of their own education. It’s a grand vision, but it’s evidence-based and eminently possible, write ETS’s Catherine Millett and Michael Nettles.
How to Build Public Demand for Transforming Education Systems
Transforming education systems is impossible without involving the broader public, including young people. Hence, building public demand for change and for participation in reimagining education is essential, write Big Change's Caireen Goddard and Eloïse Haylor.
Miscellany
Not everything pressing fits into a neat little bucket, so we’re including a slightly larger (six articles!) miscellaneous section to highlight some reads we find to be particularly interesting, but which don’t fit comfortably in one of the other categories for this reading list.
Addressing Inflation Requires Global Food System Transformation
Endemic structural issues within global food systems mean that food prices are also at the mercy of surging fuel prices, energy shortages, and climate shocks. The key is to act now to protect food systems—not just over the next 12 months, but for the coming decades, writes CGIAR’s Marco Ferroni.
Saudi Arabian City of the Future of Dystopian Nightmare
In July, Saudi Prince Mohammed bin Salman unveiled the first details of “The Line,” a smart city in the $500 billion economic zone, Neom. However, it faces numerous challenges that may cast shadows on its most ambitious goals, writes Elia Preto Martini.
The World Backslides on Efforts to End Modern Slavery
Modern slavery is a bigger problem than most realize - 50 million people are trapped in modern slavery today, an increase of 10 million since 2017. A recent report demonstrates policy solutions that can help end the practice, writes former UN ILO Deputy Director-General Martha E. Newton.
The IDB Should Return to its Roots to Empower Growth
With the Latin American and Caribbean region facing various an array of political and economic challenges, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) needs to find a new leader that can help guide the Bank and the region through these tumultuous times, writes Adam Ratzlaff.
The Economics of Wellbeing
Wellbeing matters. Subjective wellbeing—the kind that is measured through survey research—has been linked to a large array of outcomes that are relevant to the economics of both communities and to organizations, writes Gallup’s Dan Witters.
Americans are Choosing Instincts Over Expertise
71% of Americans admit they struggle to tell what is true anymore. In this confusing world, individuals end up following their instincts on political and policy questions—relying on what they have seen for themselves rather than the advice of experts, writes Cast From Clay’s Tom Hashemi.
a global affairs media network
Diplomatic Courier's Holiday Reading List
Slovenia. Photo by Hasmik Ghazaryan Olson via Unsplash.
December 18, 2022
Diplomatic Courier’s staff are “gone sledding” for the rest of 2022 to recharge and reconnect with friends and family before an exciting 2023. In the meantime, here are some reads that you may have missed from the past several months. We hope you enjoy!
D
iplomatic Courier’s staff has “gone sledding!” As we head into the holiday season, we’re switching off the lights to conserve electricity and our collective sanity. There are some exciting things coming up in early 2023, so we’re taking the rest of 2022 to recharge and reconnect with friends and family. We hope you’ll be able to do the same!
Just because we’re off to the nearest snow-covered slope for some sledding doesn’t mean we’re planning to leave you without anything to read. Over the past several months we’ve had a lot of great content—it’s been perhaps our busiest and best year to date—so we wanted to highlight some reads that you may have missed. Hopefully these pieces help you get through the holiday lull and give you something to think about as we try to make 2023 an even better year.
Season’s greetings to you and yours and wishing everybody a better 2023.
Geopolitics
It’s been a tense year geopolitically, from active conflicts to collapsing states to fraught diplomacy. Here are four of Diplomatic Courier’s key articles surveying this tense landscape.
Iran and Azerbaijan: Regional Rivals or Economic Partners?
It is unclear if Azerbaijan and Iran want to develop close economic ties or if they are preparing for a potential large-scale conflict. As these two countries try to manage their bilateral ties, their relations with other countries in the region may be at risk, writes Nikola Mikovic.
Geopolitical Tectonic Shifts Complicate Business Strategies
Geopolitical developments have been coming at us faster and more furiously. It is important to understand and integrate consideration of these developments into business strategy and risk governance, and GEC Risk Advisory founder Andrea Bonime-Blanc suggests four tactics to accomplish that.
What Caused the Ukraine War?
Russia’s war in Ukraine is the most disruptive conflict that Europe has seen since 1945. How can we discern the origins of this war that may last for years? The Ukraine war was not inevitable, but it did become increasingly probable over time, writes Harvard’s Joseph S. Nye.
Afghanistan's Girls and Women Fight Back
Thousands of Afghan women and girls have taken to the streets to protest the repeated violation of their right to an education. Afghan women and girls are fighting for their rights, but they need help, writes former British PM Gordon Brown and Education Cannot Wait’s Yasmine Sherif.
Climate & Energy
COP27 is in the books, but the jury is still out over whether the summit succeeded in building momentum toward delivering COP26’s aims. Meanwhile, the climate continues to change. Here are four of Diplomatic Courier’s articles discussing climate change from angles not typically touched on.
A New Toolkit for Communicating Climate Action
We need a new approach to communicating climate action that invites people in. At World in 2050’s inaugural Innovation Lab, delegates to the Climate & Energy Committee considered fundamental principles for how climate advocates can speak more productively with those opposed to robust climate action.
Learning by Candlelight: Energy Resilience Lessons When the Lights Went Out
Instances of energy grid vulnerability in recent years highlight how disruptive and damaging climate change will be. Building more resilient, redundant, and diversified grids is important, but so are strategic risk sharing models similar to financial institutions, writes Circle's Dante Disparte.
ESD for ESG: Education for Sustainable Development
Today, we face unprecedented global challenges. However, by promoting “ESD for ESG,” we can work together across different disciplines and sectors to blend their knowledge, theories, and expertise to develop comprehensive solutions, write Dr. Carol O’Donnell and Hina Baloch.
Ensuring Our Future Requires Insuring Today
As climate-related disasters increase, insurers need to rethink their approach to insuring against the risks posed by climate change. If insurers want to stay in business, they must make combatting climate change part of their business model, writes Risk Cooperative CEO Andres Franzetti.
Future of Education
Education is in crisis, and there is a growing sense that we need an education transformation rather than reform. Here are four of Diplomatic Courier’s articles considering just how bad things are in some spaces and what good transformation should look like.
Responsive, Contextualized Education is a Human Right
In standardizing what education is foundational and what isn’t, schools fail to prepare youth to navigate life experiences or confront the systemic inequities they will surely face. Students need an education that is connected to their current reality and context, writes Kizazi’s Romana Shaikh.
Afghans Hold Out Little Hope for Next Generation
A record-low 11% of Afghans surveyed by Gallup this year in late July and August—roughly marking the one-year anniversary of the Taliban’s takeover—say children in their country have the opportunity to learn and grow, report Gallup’s Khorshied Nusratty and Julie Ray.
A Grand Vision, Still Within Reach
For perhaps the first time in history, a generation of young adults throughout the world is within reach of the possibility of taking full control of their own education. It’s a grand vision, but it’s evidence-based and eminently possible, write ETS’s Catherine Millett and Michael Nettles.
How to Build Public Demand for Transforming Education Systems
Transforming education systems is impossible without involving the broader public, including young people. Hence, building public demand for change and for participation in reimagining education is essential, write Big Change's Caireen Goddard and Eloïse Haylor.
Miscellany
Not everything pressing fits into a neat little bucket, so we’re including a slightly larger (six articles!) miscellaneous section to highlight some reads we find to be particularly interesting, but which don’t fit comfortably in one of the other categories for this reading list.
Addressing Inflation Requires Global Food System Transformation
Endemic structural issues within global food systems mean that food prices are also at the mercy of surging fuel prices, energy shortages, and climate shocks. The key is to act now to protect food systems—not just over the next 12 months, but for the coming decades, writes CGIAR’s Marco Ferroni.
Saudi Arabian City of the Future of Dystopian Nightmare
In July, Saudi Prince Mohammed bin Salman unveiled the first details of “The Line,” a smart city in the $500 billion economic zone, Neom. However, it faces numerous challenges that may cast shadows on its most ambitious goals, writes Elia Preto Martini.
The World Backslides on Efforts to End Modern Slavery
Modern slavery is a bigger problem than most realize - 50 million people are trapped in modern slavery today, an increase of 10 million since 2017. A recent report demonstrates policy solutions that can help end the practice, writes former UN ILO Deputy Director-General Martha E. Newton.
The IDB Should Return to its Roots to Empower Growth
With the Latin American and Caribbean region facing various an array of political and economic challenges, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) needs to find a new leader that can help guide the Bank and the region through these tumultuous times, writes Adam Ratzlaff.
The Economics of Wellbeing
Wellbeing matters. Subjective wellbeing—the kind that is measured through survey research—has been linked to a large array of outcomes that are relevant to the economics of both communities and to organizations, writes Gallup’s Dan Witters.
Americans are Choosing Instincts Over Expertise
71% of Americans admit they struggle to tell what is true anymore. In this confusing world, individuals end up following their instincts on political and policy questions—relying on what they have seen for themselves rather than the advice of experts, writes Cast From Clay’s Tom Hashemi.
