Morning Brief, Wednesday, October 17

Two years into his first term, how has U.S. President Joe Biden fared on foreign policy? Is there a clear Biden doctrine? Is America in a stronger or weaker position globally?  The answers ...Show moredepend on whom you ask.  Join FP’s Ravi Agrawal for a lively discussion about the Biden administration’s foreign-policy successes and failures half way through his first term, with Stephen Wertheim, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and Nadia Schadlow, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and a former U.S. deputy national security advisor for strategy during the Trump administration.  

With a Russian offensive brewing in the southeast region of Ukraine, Western governments are scrambling to keep up arms shipments. Has Russian President Vladimir Putin learned the lessons fr...Show moreom his last, disastrous mobilization? And what does Ukraine need from the West to prepare for the next one?  Alongside land war in Europe, increased tensions between the United States and China have caused alliances to shift. With new players on the rise and geopolitical interests changing dramatically, FP reporters will share what they’ve been hearing from key global players. For the latest on the Russia-Ukraine war and a look at what’s to come in geopolitics, join FP’s executive editor, Amelia Lester, and FP’s team of reporters for a timely conversation.

The last few years have brought historic challenges for multinational companies. Nationalism and protectionism were already on the rise when COVID-19 shut down global supply chains. Then Rus...Show moresia invaded Ukraine, and businesses around the world confronted a decision on whether to pull out of the Russian market. It raises a series of questions: In a fractured world, how do companies with large global footprints decide which side to pick? How does industry define it values? And what happens if the United States and China continue down a path of decoupling? FP’s Ravi Agrawal sat down with industry leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, to discuss how businesses can build resilience amid a turbulent geopolitical era. The panelists included Anne Richards, CEO of Fidelity International; Carmine Di Sibio, CEO of Ernst & Young; Mathias Miedreich, CEO of Umicore; and Lubna S. Olayan, chair of the executive committee of Olayan Financing Company. Watch the full interview for insights on how industry thinks about deglobalization, the U.S.-China rivalry, the war in Ukraine, and much more. Or read a transcribed Q&A here. Also this week in Davos, Ravi convened four business leaders from the energy sector to examine how digital technologies and data can help reduce the energy industry’s carbon emissions. Speakers included Boston Consulting Group CEO Christoph Schweizer, Nokia CEO Pekka Lundmark, Schneider Electric CEO Jean-Pascal Tricoire, and SLB’s Dr. Katharina Beumelburg. Watch the full discussion here.