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October 7, 2022

Wilson Weekly

What Better Looks Like: Breaking the Critical Minerals Resource Curse

“Existing mines don’t change quickly, and if we want to create added value for improving existing mines, they’re not going to all be perfect...We have a century of industrial scale mining that hasn’t valued [responsible sourcing], that has valued getting materials out for the cheapest price on the market, so we’re retooling.” -Aimee Boulanger, Executive Director, Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance

WATCH NOW

Article

Third Anniversary of Tishreen Protests: Young Iraqis Take to the Streets Again

“With no new government formed and ongoing violence between Sadr’s forces and the Iranian-backed militias, Iraq is at a standstill. Even if a new government is formed, there is little hope it will be willing or able to address the Tishreen protesters’ demands.” -Geneive Abdo

READ

Podcast | The Russia File

Life under Russian Occupation: A Conversation with Katerina Sergatskova

“When you walk on your streets that you know so well, since your childhood, and now you see them with Russian soldiers, with Russian flags, you just can’t process it, you can’t understand that it is happening in your city, in your hometown.” -Ukrainian war reporter Katerina Sergatskova talks with Izabella Tabarovsky on the latest Russian File podcast.

LISTEN

Maduro’s Bloody Oil

Former Colombian President Iván Duque Márquez asserts that Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro “wants to take advantage of the global energy situation to trade Venezuelan crude for more respect and tolerance of his totalitarian and human rights abusing government.” Read more in this hot-off-the-presses op-ed.

READ NOW

Event | Video

Forty Years of Antarctic Marine Conservation: Policy Approaches in the Antarctic Treaty System

"The scientific committee has been politicized to some extent, and I think it’s more difficult today for them to provide the best science-based advice possible. The people who come to the scientific committee today are quite different in some respects to the 80s and 90s.” -Jim Barnes, Board Chair, Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition

WATCH

Blog Post | Stubborn Things

Changes in the Number of Migrants Illegally Entering the United States

“The Biden Administration has taken steps to tackle the drivers of migration in the Northern Triangle, but tyranny, repression and mismanagement in Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua will require a different approach.” -Read more from Ambassador Mark Green in his latest blog.

READ

Update on Protests in Iran

“Ever since Ebrahim Raisi became president, 14-15 months ago, one of his first decisions was to impose seriously the hijab on women...he thought by unleashing the morality police on people in the streets of Iran, women would be scared and cover their heads.” -Distinguished Fellow Haleh Esfandiari discusses the ongoing protests in Iran with John Milewski on the latest edition of Wilson Center NOW.

Update on Protests in Iran

Upcoming Events

UK-US Military Cooperation: A Conversation with UK Shadow Defense Secretary, John Healey

Tuesday, Oct. 11 // 11:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m. (ET)

The Only Woman in the Room: Golda Meir and Her Path to Power

Thursday, Oct. 13 // 4–5:30 p.m. (ET)

Wilson In the News

Iran's Women in Revolt (NPR)

"Let me take you a little back to pre-revolutionary Iran. In the marches that were there in 1979, men and women took part. And women were hoping that rights would be expanded, not contracted.” -Haleh Esfandiari

Incumbent Jair Bolsonaro Sends Brazil's Presidential Election to a Runoff (CBS News)

“It was a high-stakes contest with serious ramifications in Brazil and in the world... it's important to note that the Bolosonarismo, Bolosonarism as a movement won the first round of this election... we need to pay attention to that in the next round up.”-Bruna Santos

Blinken Heads to South America to Encourage Democracies on Continent (VOA)

“What the relationship should be with the United States. How its energy industry should be managed, and that touches a lot of US private sector concerns. How counter narcotics should be managed, how Colombia’s relationship with Venezuela should be handled.” -Benjamin Gedan previews the most important issues to confront Secretary of State Antony Blinken during his upcoming trip to South America.

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