Two Political Profiles Not to Miss

Caught between its strongest ally, the United States, and its biggest trading partner, China, can Australia escape what has been called the “slipstream of the superpowers”? Penny Wong, Australia’s new foreign minister, wants to try. Wong’s ambitious agenda is outlined in a profile by Margaret Simons: “She hopes to find common interests with proximate small and middle powers” to create a peaceful, prosperous region and, in so doing, shape the way the world’s superpowers behave.

In another fascinating political profile, FP’s Amy Mackinnon tracks the career of one of the U.S. Republican Party’s rising stars, Elise Stefanik. The representative from New York was the youngest-ever woman elected to Congress back in 2014; now, she’s a Trump acolyte, election denier, and, Mackinnon writes, “bellwether for the Republican Party.” What does Stefanik’s transformation tell us about the future of the United States’ two-party system? Mackinnon investigates.

New and Noteworthy

• FP Live On Demand: Last week, Pakistan’s new foreign minister, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, joined FP Live to discuss his plans to set the country on the right course, how his government is managing multiple crises, and much more. Plus, FP’s executive editor, Amelia Lester, and FP’s team of reporters answered subscriber questions about where Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is headed next, including what Russian President Vladimir Putin’s mobilization announcement means for the course of the war. The recordings of these discussions are available now. 
• How NGOs Bolster Democracy: Nongovernmental organizations have the potential to undermine authoritarian governance, which is why they are so often targeted by such governments. A collection of essays from the FP archives explores the promise of NGOs, the problems they can create, and the issues they face amid widespread crackdowns around the world.
• Back to History’s Wheel of Fortune: The history of the long 20th century, stretching from 1870 to 2010, is primarily the history of four things—technology-fueled growth, globalization, an exceptional America, and confidence that humanity could at least slouch toward utopia as governments could solve political-economic problems. In historian Brad DeLong’s latest book, he explains why an era of once-undreamt-of progress is over and why you won’t like what comes next.

FP Live: Wally Adeyemo Confronts a Challenging Economic Moment

Are U.S. sanctions working, and what other measures has the White House taken to hurt Russia? Ahead of the annual IMF and World Bank meetings, the U.S. Treasury’s Wally Adeyemo joins FP Live to discuss the dizzying state of the world economy, the impact of the Russia-Ukraine war, and more. Oct. 7 | 1 p.m. EDT

Best of Briefings: Latin America Brief

The highlights last week: Bolsonaro and Lula courted Brazil’s evangelicals ahead of Sunday’s vote, Cuba legalized same-sex marriage, and Argentina’s government intervened in the market for World Cup stickers (yes, really). Read an excerpt from the most recent edition of Latin America Brief below:

Jair Bolsonaro’s 2018 election to the Brazilian presidency was the apex of political efforts to cultivate a U.S.-style Christian evangelical right in the country. In a campaign drenched in socially conservative religious imagery, Bolsonaro earned more than twice as many evangelical votes as did his leftist opponent in the presidential runoff. Evangelicals are on track to become Brazil’s largest religious group within the next decade and currently make up some 30 percent of the population.

Bolsonaro has struggled to maintain the same level of evangelical support ahead of Sunday’s presidential election, however. A Sept. 20-22 poll by Datafolha said that only 50 percent of evangelical voters planned to back him, while 32 percent planned to support his leading opponent, former leftist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Continue reading this brief online, and sign up to get it weekly. Plus, catch up on the results of Sunday’s election in Brazil in today’s Morning Brief.

Most Popular on FP

From Around FP

• Britain’s Doom Loop: In the weeks since Liz Truss became prime minister, the British pound has fallen to historic lows, financial markets lost $500 billion, and the IMF has issued warnings. In the latest episode of Ones and Tooze, Adam and Cameron explain what happened to Britain’s economy. You can read an edited transcript of their conversation here. Plus, check out a live taping of Ones and Tooze on Oct. 25 at 7 p.m. in New York. Click here to purchase tickets to attend the event in person or virtually. 
• An American Journalist’s Freedom: FP’s podcast The Negotiators began Season 2 with a dramatic prisoner negotiation. Danny Fenster is an American journalist who covered the coup in Myanmar in 2021. Months later, while trying to leave the country for a visit with his family in the United States, he was arrested at the airport in Yangon and eventually sentenced to 11 years in prison. In this two-part story, we hear from Mickey Bergman, who helped negotiate Fenster’s release. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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