Monday, January 16

The most important foreign affairs events of the week

January 9, 2023

“A report published every four years on the progress of the Montreal Protocol confirmed the phase-out of nearly 99 per cent of banned ozone-depleting substances. The impact the Montreal Protocol has had on climate change mitigation cannot be overstressed: over the last 35 years, the Protocol has become a true champion for the environment. The UN Secretary-General António Guterres affirmed that the Montreal Protocol is 'an encouraging example of what the world can achieve when we work together.' Moreover, the protocol has also been beneficial to the ongoing effort to mitigate climate change, especially after the Kigali Amendment in 2016."

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The transitive verb deplete means “to consume or reduce to a very low amount; use up something important that is hard to replace.” Close synonyms are “drain”, “exhaust”, “use up”, “wipe out”, and “consume”.

The transitive verb overstress means “to place too much emphasis on something.” Close synonyms are “overemphasize” and “overstate”.

Note: The prefix over means "excessive" or "too much".

January 10, 2023

“In a matter of hours, at least 17 civilians and one police officer were killed in the chaos of demonstrations that have been mounting since early December, when the former President, Pedro Castillo, was ousted. This week, Peru has seen an extraordinary spasm of violence that complicated the new president’s attempt to stabilize the country, with more than 45 deaths officially registered. The Peruvian police have been accused by protesters and human rights groups of using lethal force indiscriminately against civilians, mostly impoverished rural citizens, who stormed the streets to demand new general elections. The political convulsion in Peru comes as South America faces significant threats to many of its democracies, including Brazil.”

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The intransitive verb mount means “to go upward; rise; to increase in amount, extent, or intensity.” Close synonyms are “increase”, “ascend”, “escalate”, and “intensify”.

The transitive verb impoverish means “to reduce to poverty; to make poor.”

January 11, 2023

“Encouraged by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the European Union and NATO published an unprecedented joint declaration on European security. The document underscored the continuing importance of the Trans-Atlantic relationship, playing down calls from Paris for more European military independence. This is a victory for the current American diplomacy, which revamps a fractured relation with Europe, after a disastrous Trump administration, and gives new momentum to diplomatic relations on both sides of the Atlantic. The declaration also highlights authoritarian actors threatening Western democracies and China’s growing assertiveness.” 

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The transitive verb underscore means “to put emphasis on; stress; to cause to appear important or deserving of attention.” Close synonyms are “highlight”, “stress”, “emphasize”, and “underline”.

The phrasal verb play down means “to minimize the importance of; make little of.”

January 12, 2023

“The World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the United Nations weather agency, said on Thursday that 2022 was the eighth consecutive year that global temperatures rose at least 1 degree celsius above pre-industrial levels, fuelled by ever-rising greenhouse gas concentrations and accumulated heat. Even though the La Niña phenomenon has been playing a significant role in cooling temperatures for the last three years, its impact will be short-lived and will not reverse the long-term warming trend. This alarming sum of data points to decades of heating temperatures: ‘Since the 1980s, each decade has been warmer than the previous one. This is expected to continue,’ the UN agency said.”

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The noun greenhouse gas means “any of the gases whose absorption of solar radiation is responsible for the greenhouse effect, including carbon dioxide, methane, ozone, and the fluorocarbons.”

The noun datum means “a fact or proposition used to draw a conclusion or make a decision.” Its plural form (data) is more commonly used in texts.

January 13, 2023

“After a meeting with American President Joe Biden, Japan’s Prime Minister, Fumio Kishida, vowed to modernize Japanese military capabilities. In his view, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine had opened a dangerous new era and could embolden China. Biden reinforced America’s commitment to the strategic alliance and to Japan’s defense. Japan has joined Western powers in imposing sanctions on Russia in order to discourage unilateral change in the status quo by force, which transformed the effort to end Russia’s aggression against Ukraine from a transatlantic perspective to a global one. The two leaders reaffirmed that the alliance remains the cornerstone of peace, security and prosperity of the Indo-Pacific.”

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The transitive verb embolden means “to foster boldness or courage in someone (something).” Close synonyms are “encourage”, “invigorate”, and “inflame”.

The noun cornerstone means “the foundation on which something is constructed or developed; an indispensable and fundamental basis; something that is essential or basic.”