Weekend Reads: December 9-11, 2022
We are sharing a few research pieces and notable news stories that caught our eye in the past week. We hope you find it interesting and useful. And please let us know if you would like to add someone to our distribution list.
· “The EU has a spy problem – here’s why it’s so difficult to catch them” Politico EU
They’re hovering at the bar at the think tank networking event. They’re raising their hand in the press room at European Union briefings. They’re listening in — if a 2019 warning to staff from the European External Action Service is to be believed — at the bars and restaurants near the European Commission’s headquarters. Faced with Russian hostility and Chinese snooping, Belgium has upped its counterintelligence game — but Brussels remains a spies’ playground.
· “Where Does All the Cardboard Come From? I Had to Know” New York Times Magazine
Entire forests and enormous factories running 24/7 can barely keep up with demand. This is how the cardboard economy works.
· “The New Geopolitics of Global Finance” Blog by Brad Setser/Council on Foreign Relations
Setser, the Whitney Shepardson Senior Fellow at the Council for Foreign Relations, writes an excellent blog discussing geopolitics and finance. In this post argues that the global balance of payments only adds up if the G-7’s geopolitical rivals are also its bankers.
· “Biden, Congress Job Ratings Unchanged After Midterm Elections” Gallup
Despite Democrats picking up one net seat in the US Senate and limiting losses in the House of Representatives in the recent mid-term elections, President Biden’s approval ratings are still at 40 percent. And Congress languishes at 22 percent.
Chart of the Week: The Top Three Producing Countries in Production of Selected Minerals and Fossil Fuels
This week, the European Union concluded a trade deal with Chile, allowing the EU greater access to critical minerals needed for renewable energy (lithium, copper, etc.). The agreement also allows the EU to pivot away from importing away from China. The below chart from the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) breaks down which countries extract and process the most minerals:
