Monday, January 23

The most important foreign affairs events of the week

January 16, 2023

“China’s government released a study which shows that its population has fallen for the first time in 60 years, with the national birth rate hitting a record low - 6.77 births per 1,000 people. The population in 2022 - 1.4118 billion - fell by 850,000 from 2021. China's birth rate has been declining for years, prompting a slew of policies to try to slow the trend. However, seven years after scrapping the one-child policy, it has entered an era of negative population growth. Since 2016, married couples have been allowed to have two children. The Chinese government also offered tax breaks and better maternal healthcare, among other incentives, to reverse, or at least slow, the falling birth rate. Nevertheless, these policies did not lead to a sustained increase in births.”

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The noun slew means “a large amount or number; a lot.”

The transitive verb scrap means “to discard or abandon as useless; cancel.” Close synonyms are “abandon”, “drop”, “shed”, and “get rid of”.

January 17, 2023

“According to the United Nations special envoy for Yemen, regional and international diplomatic activity to end the country’s eight-year conflict intensifies. A UN-backed truce initially took effect in April 2022 and raised hopes for a longer pause in fighting, but it ended on October 2nd after just six months. However, there have not been major changes on the ground since the truce ended, which has allowed for some fuel shipments into Houthi-held Hodeidah port and commercial flights from Sanaa. The UN is now pushing for an extended and broader deal encompassing a mechanism to pay public sector wages.”

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The noun truce means “a temporary cessation or suspension of hostilities by agreement of the opposing sides; an armistice.”

The transitive verb encompass means “to have as part of something larger; include.” Close synonyms are “wide”, “extensive”, “broad”, and “all-inclusive”.

January 18, 2023

“Amidst a Davos Economic Forum focused on a wartime economy and questions about the future of globalization, Germany’s Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, called for European unity. He also expressed confidence that Europe is withstanding the sudden loss of Russian energy supplies. By contrast, Germany has been reluctant to send its modern Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, fearing that they could lead to a direct confrontation between Russian and NATO forces. Much of Scholz's speech was about Germany’s transformation to carbon-free manufacturing, an important step towards an economic decoupling from Russia (until recently, Germany was also the biggest customer for Russian gas).”

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The transitive verb withstand means “to resist or oppose with determined effort; to remain firm in endurance or opposition.”

The noun decoupling is more common in engineering, but has been largely used in the economy news to describe US-China relations (and now Germany-Russia). It means “the separation of previously linked systems so that they may operate independently.”

January 19, 2023

“South Africa’s military announced on Thursday that it plans to hold joint training exercises off its coast next month with Russia and China, a move criticized by the United States, which has been trying to rally other countries to isolate Russia over the war in Ukraine. The naval drill is a show of diplomatic independence for South Africa, international analysts said, as the country is part of an alliance with Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRICS) and this naval exercise reasserts South Africa’s position that it will not allow the conflict between Russia and Ukraine to dictate its diplomatic relations.”

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In this context, the transitive verb hold means “to engage in or carry on.” Close synonyms are “conduct” and “sustain”.

The transitive verb rally means “to call together for a common purpose; assemble.”

January 20, 2023

“A Chinese giant battery company has won a bidding process to develop Bolivia's huge lithium reserves. The ultra-light metal is used in electric vehicle batteries, production of which is expected to soar as fossil fuels are phased out. Currently, Australia and Chile are the world's biggest lithium producers, but Bolivia has huge reserves in the Potosi and Oruro salt flats. Argentina, Bolivia and Chile share an expanse of salt flats, or salars, called the ‘lithium triangle’, holding more than 75% of the world's lithium deposits.” 

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The noun bidding means “the act of making bids, as at an auction or in bridge.” 

The noun soar means “the act of soaring.” The intransitive verb means “to increase or improve suddenly above the normal or usual level.”