Hello, and happy Monday!
This belated correspondence comes to you after a whirlwind week in the snowy Swiss Alpine town of Davos, where a hodgepodge of political power brokers, corporate executives, and academics—not to mention a fair few journalists—gathered for the 54th annual World Economic Forum.
Compared to last year’s Davos (which was also my first), this year’s gathering felt more much fraught—no doubt because of all the geopolitical uncertainty surrounding it. More on that, and other timely stories, below.
What I’ve written
A decades-long flashpoint in India’s sectarian politics is poised to reach a climax today with the consecration of a vast Hindu temple that is being built on a contested holy site that was once home to a 16th century mosque. I wrote about the significance of the event and what it means for the country’s Hindu nationalists and Muslim minority alike:
While the Indian government, and indeed many Hindus, regard the Jan. 22 consecration as a celebratory occasion of immense national and religious importance, observers fear that the event could signify yet another nail in the coffin of India’s secular ethos. “The Ram Mandir revolves around some of the most divisive issues for religion and society in contemporary India,” Michael Kugelman, the director of the South Asia Institute at the Wilson Center in Washington, tells TIME in an email. “The temple consecration is papering over incredibly traumatic and heavily contested events in India’s history.” Keep reading here
For my dispatch from Davos, I wrote about how Ukraine and Gaza vied for the gathering’s scattered attention:
All of the usual suspects converged on the Swiss Alpine town of Davos this week for the 54th annual World Economic Forum—a hodgepodge of political power brokers, corporate executives, academics, activists (plus a fair few journalists). Walking along the city’s icy thoroughfare or through the packed halls of its bustling convention center, one could overhear animated conversations on everything from generative AI, to climate change mitigation, to the upcoming U.S. election. Often in more hushed tones, however, one could also hear attendees discuss more fraught topics—chief among them the ongoing wars in Europe and the Middle East. Keep reading here
Plus:
What I’ve read
This excellent profile of Evgenia Kara-Murza and her fight to free her husband and the Kremlin’s countless other political prisoners (The Atlantic)
As Vladimir’s imprisonment has dragged on, and his physical conditions have worsened, Evgenia has directed her efforts toward trying to persuade Western officials to more forcefully counteract what she views as a new and dangerous period of hostage-taking around the world. Autocrats like Putin have seen that hostages can be effective tools not only to get what they want from other nations, she argues, but also to shut down internal dissent. So far, the U.S. and its allies have taken a reactive posture in response to Russia’s embrace of this tactic, she says. “They should not just be controlling the damage,” she told me. “It has to be proactive. I would like to see democracies come together to come up with tools to deter this from happening in the first place.” Western governments could apply stronger sanctions to Russia, she says, and more nations might officially recognize it as a terrorist regime.
This astute piece on why the Davos “smart set” sounds dumb (Politico)
It is not that the observations and arguments are notably dumb, though it is rare to hear something arrestingly smart. The signature of most conversations about current events is how emphatically commonplace they are. Business leaders, scientists, public intellectuals, cabinet ministers and the roster of operatives who accompany them all to Davos tend to be very high news consumers. Many of these people are themselves frequently in the news or have regular access to principals of government and industry. Outsiders, however, should liberate themselves from the illusion that these insiders really know the score. Their views are no more banal than the average person who also follows the news, but they are typically no less so.
This must-read essay on the price on Benjamin Netanyahu’s ambition (The New Yorker)
The longer the war goes on—and, according to top military analysts, it is not going nearly as well or as quickly as the I.D.F. had hoped—the more time Netanyahu will have to rebuild his base and undermine potential challengers. “Netanyahu has an interest in never finishing this stage of war,” Nahum Barnea said. The Prime Minister’s announced “prerequisites for peace,” certainly, do not suggest he is looking for an off-ramp: “Hamas must be destroyed, Gaza must be demilitarized, and Palestinian society must be deradicalized.” Yet Hamas has always been a product as well as a purveyor of brutality, and the Prime Minister hardly needs to be instructed in the gap between his political interests and the larger realities. Recounting a previous crisis in his memoir, he took pains to edify his readers on the subject. A full-blown war with Hamas, he wrote, would be a “hollow” spectacle with no satisfying end. “The Hamas leaders would come out from their holes and declare victory among the ruins.”
What I’m thinking about
I’m turning 30 this week! And contrary to the panic and dread often associated with this particular milestone (see: every 30th birthday on Friends), I’m feeling pretty good about it.
Perhaps that’s because so many of my friends are already 30 (and they seem to be doing just fine)! Perhaps it’s because my mom told me early on that her 30s were among the best years of her life (and she’s usually right about these things).
But I suppose the real reason I’m so calm about bidding my 20s farewell is because I don’t feel like I’m saying goodbye to anything at all. Some of the highlights of this past decade has been living in some incredible cities (among them Los Angeles, Paris, DC, and London) and visiting countless more; doing journalism I’m proud of with some of America’s best news magazines; and making some pretty wonderful friends along the way. None of that materially changes on Jan. 25. If the next decade is even half as fun as this last one has been, I’ll be immeasurably grateful.
All that said, if you’ve turned 30 and have any important tips or words of wisdom to share, please hit ‘reply’ and let me know. I’d love to hear from you.
Until next time,
Yasmeen