Another Year of Living Dangerously

In 2022, several colossal events dominated the headlines, most prominently the war in Ukraine and the worldwide inflation that it helped spark. But beyond Ukraine, events with global implications continued to unfold. In this episode, Why It Matters checks in with three CFR fellows and CFR President Richard Haass to understand the least-covered stories of 2022 and to take a peek at what could await the world in 2023.

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Host
  • Gabrielle Sierra
    Director, Podcasting
Credits

Asher Ross - Supervising Producer

Markus Zakaria - Audio Producer and Sound Designer

Molly McAnany - Associate Podcast Producer

Episode Guests
  • Steven A. Cook
    Eni Enrico Mattei Senior Fellow for Middle East and Africa Studies and Director of the International Affairs Fellowship for Tenured International Relations Scholars
  • Richard Haass
    President Emeritus, Council on Foreign Relations
  • Shannon K. O'Neil
    Vice President, Deputy Director of Studies, and Nelson and David Rockefeller Senior Fellow for Latin America Studies
  • Ebenezer Obadare
    Douglas Dillon Senior Fellow for Africa Studies

Show Notes

In 2022, several major events reverberated around the world: a war in Europe, a global economic downturn, historic protests in Iran, the death of a queen. But these stories couldn’t cover everything that happened in our interconnected world. 

 

To find out what else happened this year, Gabrielle Sierra sat down with CFR President Richard Haass and three of CFR’s regional specialists to break down stories from Latin America, the Middle East, and sub-Saharan Africa. 

 

 

From CFR

 

Manjari Chatterjee Miller, J. Andrés Gannon, Inu Manak, Ebenezer Obadare, and Christopher M. Tuttle, “Visualizing 2023: Trends to Watch

 

James M. Lindsay, “Ten Anniversaries to Note in 2023,” The Water’s Edge

 

Diana Roy, “Ten Graphics That Explain the U.S. Struggle With Migrant Flows in 2022


 

From Our Guests

 

Steven A. Cook, “How Israel and Turkey Benefit From Restoring Relations,” CFR.org

 

Ebenezer Obadare, “Escalating Violence Is Putting Nigeria’s Future on the Line,” CFR.org

 

Shannon K. O’Neil, The Globalization Myth, Yale University Press


 

Read More

 

2022 in Review Fast Facts,” CNN

 

Simon Robinson, “What Happened in 2022? The Year in Review - From Russia-Ukraine War to U.S. Midterms,” Reuters


 

Watch and Listen


Why Global Supply Chains May Never Be the Same,” Wall Street Journal

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Unidentified flying objects (UFOs) are real. And the truth about them is often hidden from the public, for reasons related to national security. That secrecy has fed conspiracy theories about the possibility of alien life on Earth, creating a stigma around the legitimate scientific search for life on other planets. Why are UFOs considered a defense concern? And does a defense framing of UFOs inhibit scientific research?

Center for Preventive Action

Every January, CFR’s annual Preventive Priorities Survey analyzes the conflicts most likely to occur in the year ahead and measures their potential impact. For the first time, the survey anticipates that this year, 2024, the United States will contend not only with a slew of global threats, but also a high risk of upheaval within its own borders. Is the country prepared for the eruption of election-related instability at home while wars continue to rage abroad?

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Billions of people will take to the polls next year, marking the world’s largest-ever electoral field. But this historic scale is not the only thing that will make 2024 unique. As new threats like deep fakes become cheaper and more widespread, these upcoming elections could serve as a test run for democracy in the artificial intelligence (AI) era. What risks does AI pose to elections next year? And will a surge in AI-powered disinformation change the nature of democratic elections?

Top Stories on CFR

Indonesia

Prabowo Subianto was named the winner of the Indonesian presidential election. But it is unclear which version of Prabowo—the more moderate candidate from the campaign trail or the self-styled strongman—will govern Indonesia.

Russia

The mass casualty theater attack in Moscow was a reminder that affiliates of the Islamic State have reorganized and infiltrated even powerful states.

India

With India's development continuing to gain steam, one of the biggest challenges will be to avoid the mistake that others have made when they failed to recognize their newly acquired global systemic influence and adapt accordingly. Both China and Big Tech show that it is never too early to start managing one's own rise.