What Actually Mattered This Week: Boycotts and Brazil

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WHAT ACTUALLY MATTERED THIS WEEK

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

U.S. would consider boycott of 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing over China’s human rights abuses

An Olympics boycott a bad idea. The US should take a hard line with China where there are national security interests at play (and there are many), and cooperate elsewhere. Don’t make a bad relationship much worse by picking unnecessary fights.

Not to mention, a US decision to boycott the Beijing Olympics would not be followed by US allies.

Not most of Europe.

Not South Korea.

Not even Japan (which can’t risk China pulling out from their own games)

Helping China divide US allies is the last thing we should do.

You really want to stick it to the Chinese? Send American athletes to Beijing and come back with the most medals. That’s the winning policy. #USA

Brazil top court orders probe Of Bolsonaro's pandemic steps

If any government’s pandemic handling needs investigating, it’s Brazil’s.

Donald Trump Demands Boycott of Coke, Delta, UPS in Georgia Voter Law Fight

If you only buy products from companies that align with your values, you’re 1) lying or 2) don’t have values.

Same goes with art, literature, film, sport.

Prefer long-form analysis? Here are my thoughts on why US-EU relations will never be the same again and the week Brazil went off the rails.

TRUTHS, DAMNED TRUTHS, AND STATISTICS

Nobody screwing up its COVID response as consistently and catastrophically as Brazil’s President Bolsonaro.

-Financial Times

THE GZERO WORLD WE’RE JUST LIVING IN

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GRAPHIC TRUTH

YOUR QUICK TAKE

Brazil feels a lot like the politically divided US of 2020.

My Quick Take:

WORLD IN 60 SECONDS

Will Israel's Netanyahu be able to successfully form a new government?

What's the latest on renewed US-Iran nuclear talks?

Are vaccine passports a good idea?

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

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BECAUSE THE INTERNET

Quelle horreur

WHAT TO READ THIS WEEK

You Are What You Risk by Michele Wucker

The old adage is “know thyself.” But you can’t know yourself without understanding how you navigate this world—which risks you’re willing to take, and which you’ll leave on the table. I’ve been in the (political) risk business for more than two decades, and I’m always on the lookout for new ways of thinking and dealing with risk. Michele Wucker is one of the best in the field; I’m really looking forward to her latest book You Are What You Risk, and the rest of you should be, too.

DEEP THOUGHTS

“Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant.” —Robert Louis Stevenson

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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.