What Actually Mattered This Week: CCP's 100th Anniversary, US Airstrikes

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WHAT ACTUALLY MATTERED THIS WEEK

My thoughts on some of this week’s biggest news stories:

Xi Jinping says China won't be bullied on 100th anniversary of Communist Party

A few macro thoughts on where China is and where it’s going on the 100th anniversary of the founding of the CCP:

• How strong Chinese domestic patriotism presently is. Inside mainland China, the average Chinese citizen actually is very aligned with what the Chinese government is saying. And that's not only because they control the media.
• The lionization of Xi Jinping. If you look at the official textbooks on the history of the Communist Party, Xi has personally been elevated well beyond that of any leader since Mao. and there's increasingly a white washing of the Cultural Revolution.
• The question of, to what extent China's next five, 10 years are going to be as easy to continue to grow as we've seen over the course of the last 50, 100 years. You can't really use that as a benchmark because before China started globalizing, there was much more profound difficulties inside China. It was a low-income country with massive human depredation and war. But when I see where China is heading in the next 10 years compared to the last 50, it feels like there is a lot more winds of change against China's progress (globalization is starting to turn inward, low-cost labor no longer so low cost in China, etc).

IMF raises U.S. 2021 growth forecast to 7%, assumes Biden spending plans pass

Extraordinary rebound.

US (bipartisan) economic response to the pandemic—fiscal and monetary—leading the way.

U.S. carries out airstrikes in Iraq and Syria

Such airstrikes are almost on the job description of a US President at this point.

Prefer long-form analysis? Here are my thoughts on whether Ethiopia can survive in its current form.

TRUTHS, DAMNED TRUTHS, AND STATISTICS

% agreeing “you can trust news most of the time” 2021:

Finland 65%

Brazil 54%

Germany 53%

Canada 45%

Japan 42%

Turkey 41%

India 38%

Spain 36%

UK 36%

France 30%

US 29%

-Reuters Institute Digital News Report

THE GZERO WORLD WE’RE JUST LIVING IN

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GRAPHIC TRUTH 

YOUR GZERO WORLD

Jane Harman, a nine-term member of Congress (D-CA) who served for decades on the major security committees in the House of Representatives, discusses the shortcomings of the US national security strategy for the last few decades, and assesses the Biden administration's plans to strengthen it. In our interview, she discusses the priorities for addressing critical issues at home and abroad, from the COVID pandemic to the climate crisis and terrorism. But without a unified and functional Congress, Harman warns, the US is ineffective on matters of security. "Where is Congress? Congress can't get things done because of toxic partisanship, but the other reason it can't get anything done is members don't want to own the consequences. And that is chicken."

Harman, author of the new book, "Insanity Defense: Why Our Failure to Confront Hard National Security Problems Make Us Less Safe," discusses Joe Biden's presidency so far and gives him high marks on assembling an "A-team" for foreign policy. She adds, 'I'm just hopeful that because he has long term relationships and really a good compass for how to talk to members of Congress, he will be able to get somewhere."

For a longer, more in-depth version of my interview with Harman, check out the GZERO World podcast. 

WORLD IN 60 SECONDS

A year after the National Security Law, how has Hong Kong changed?

As rebels retake the Tigray capital, Ethiopia declares a ceasefire. Is peace near in Ethiopia's civil war?

Finally, is the hope of the US-UK travel corridor fading as the Delta variant forces more lockdowns around the world?

Find out in this week’s World in 60 Seconds!

 Do you like what you’ve seen? Subscribe and stay informed.

BECAUSE THE INTERNET

Demotivational poster

WHAT TO READ THIS WEEK

You Are What You Risk by Michele Wucker

The word “risk” puts people on edge, and not without reason. Risk is the unseen but highly anticipated menace that sometimes taps us on the shoulder with very bad news. It can push us in directions we’re pretty sure we don't want to go. Yet, risk is part of our lives—political, financial, personal, and daily. We can’t avoid it, but we can certainly navigate it. We can even turn it to our advantage. But first, we must look at it with a steady gaze, and Michele Wucker’s “You are what you risk: The New Art and Science of Navigating an Uncertain World” can help all of us do exactly that. This is a highly readable book that connects the intuitive from our personal lives with the counterintuitive that shapes the societies we live in and the future that awaits us.

DEEP THOUGHTS

“Our virtues and our failings are inseparable, like force and matter. When they separate, man is no more.” — Nikola Tesla

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Ian Bremmer is president of Eurasia Group and GZERO Media and foreign affairs columnist at TIME. He currently teaches at Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs and previously was a professor at New York University. You can follow him on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.