April 13, 2018
Yesterday (April 12) was “Yuri Gagarin Day,” a commemoration of the moment in 1961 when Gagarin (whose monument is pictured above) became the first human being to reach outer space. (See “Hard Numbers” below for some great stats.) Much can be said of Russia’s tortured history, but let’s remember that in less than 45 years, Russia went from a broken country that fought World War I barefoot to core of an empire that put the first man in orbit.
As Washington and Moscow trade threats over Syria and sanctions this week, take a moment to remember when US-Russian competition, at least in the area of manned space exploration, produced giant leaps for mankind.
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GZERO World with Ian Bremmer is returning to your screens this week, kicking off Season 9 in a summer of sweltering global tensions. The United States is celebrating its 250th birthday, a war has reshaped the Middle East, AI is forcing humanity to confront profound ethical choices, and democracies around the world are bracing for what comes next. Host Ian Bremmer is here to make sense of it all.
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As America approaches its 250th anniversary, Bank of America is investing in the legacy of leadership — committing $5M to the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library and conserving 110 presidential portraits at the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, so the history of leaders who defined our nation is preserved for generations to come. Learn more here.
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In his latest “ask ian,” Ian Bremmer says the US and China should use their growing engagement to address two major global challenges where cooperation could have an outsized impact: the war in Ukraine and the risks posed by artificial intelligence.
The trade bloc is also reducing its quota of tariff-free steel imports, as trade tensions mount with Beijing.
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