Political risk must-reads

Eurasia Group’s weekly selection of essential reading for the political risk junkie — presented in no particular order. As always, feel free to give us your feedback or selections by tweeting at us via @EurasiaGroup or @IanBremmer.

"U.S. counterterrorism efforts in Africa defined by a decade of missteps"

Craig Whitlock, Washington Post

Hindsight is 20-20. In light of recent events in Mali and Algeria, this is an interesting look back on a decade of U.S. counterterrorism efforts in Africa. 

"Red Obsessions: Film Business Moves from Hollywood to Asia"

Lars-Olva Beier, Spiegel Online

With China slated to replace North America as the world’s #1 film market by 2020, navigating the Chinese market is increasingly difficult — and necessary.

"Fertility and Immigration"

Jonathan V. Last, Los Angeles Times

There are 38 million people living in America who were born somewhere else. How do global fertility rates shape U.S. immigration — regardless of policy? 

"North Korea accused of ripping off ‘Call of Duty’ in propaganda video"

Ramy Inocencio, CNN

Posting a video of New York in flames? Not cool, North Korea. Using Michael Jackson’s "We Are the World" as the background music? For shame. Lifting parts of the video from the latest Call of Duty video game? That’s where YouTube draws the line.

"The new capitalists"

The Economist

To understand Kim Jong Un, it’s important to put him in historical context. In the post-war era, North and South Korea’s economies were roughly on par. Today, output per capita in South Korea is over 17 times that of the North.

Bonus Read

"Daring to Ask the PED Question"

Bill Simmons, Grantland

While it’s not political per se, reporting on doping requires a great deal of diplomacy — especially if you want to make the case that "innocent until proven guilty" does not always apply. This is one of the boldest, most honest pieces of sports journalism you’ll ever read.