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Welcome back to ASPI suggests for 2017. Boy, what a week\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n Our first suggestion of the year has to be <\/span>The Atlantic<\/span><\/i>\u2019s<\/span> latest cover story. <\/span>How to Build an Autocracy<\/span><\/i><\/a>, written by one-time George W. Bush speechwriter David Frum, imagines how Trump\u2019s temperament and tendencies could presage an erosion of American democracy. Frum looks to how leaders like Venezuela\u2019s Ch\u00e1vez and Hungary\u2019s Orb\u00e1n have inched their nations towards kleptocracy, and paints a chilling picture of how the 45th President might unfold his reign, abetted by a close circle of advisors, GOP interests and a weak armoury of \u2018checks and balances.\u2019 It\u2019s quite a yarn about how one man could wreck the joint by introducing a degree of authoritarianism while enriching himself and his family in the process. A must read.<\/span><\/p>\n We <\/span>once joked<\/span><\/a> about making this Friday feature a Trump-free zone, but quickly chose submission over a safe-space. We continue on that road, so here are some useful reads now that we\u2019re <\/span>really <\/span><\/i>getting<\/span><\/a> a taste<\/span><\/a> of Trumpian policy. A great piece over at <\/span>Lawfare<\/span><\/i><\/a> casts the \u201cMuslim ban\u201d as \u2018malevolence tempered by incompetence,\u2019 while Nicholas Kristof <\/span>at the <\/span>NYT<\/span><\/i><\/a> and Julia Ioffe <\/span>in <\/span>The Atlantic<\/span><\/i><\/a> offer some affecting personal stories about America and the refugee experience. <\/span>This <\/span>Foreign Policy<\/span><\/i> piece<\/span><\/a> has a stab at reconciling Trump and grand strategy, a Sisyphean task if ever there was one. Any fellow travellers who get a kick out of copyediting shouldn\u2019t miss <\/span>this <\/span>New Yorker<\/span><\/i> video<\/span><\/a> that takes a hacksaw\/2B pencil to Mr Trump\u2019s remarks to the CIA\u2014a most gratifying 18 minutes. And one to keep handy in your bookmarks: <\/span>www.alternativefacts.com<\/span><\/a> (go on, click!) As Obama once said, \u2018Four more years.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n There\u2019s plenty to choose from if you\u2019re after some fresh research after the break. Two regional pieces stand out:<\/span> the first is from Sasakawa USA<\/span><\/a>, which dissects the US\u2013Japan alliance and its future challenges, and the<\/span> second is from the ever-impressive Bonnie Glaser<\/span><\/a>, who offers some recommendations to the Trump administration on how to balance relations with Beijing and Taipei following the \u2018One China\u201d policy bungle. Over the break, the <\/span>World Policy Journal<\/span><\/i> teamed up with the dynamos over at Foreign Policy Interrupted to produce \u2018<\/span>World Policy Interrupted<\/span><\/a>\u2019, an all-female edition of the Journal which gave women from across the globe a platform to voice insights on foreign policy and national security issues (check out the<\/span> accompanying podcast<\/span><\/a> here). <\/span>Foreign Policy<\/span><\/i> launched a new blog, \u2018<\/span>Shadow Government<\/span><\/a>\u2019, where you\u2019ll be able to keep up with foreign policy musings of Democratic policymakers, academics and practitioners over the course of the Trump administration. And if you\u2019ve still got some time on your hands, earlier this month, the CIA released its largest collection of declassified records ever\u2014totalling a whopping 930,000 documents. Have a browse at the Agency\u2019s<\/span> Electronic Reading Room<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n If you\u2019re already tearing your hair out at 2017, Team <\/span>Strategist<\/span><\/i> has the perfect stress relief\u2014<\/span>check it out here<\/span><\/a>. (Although, it may be too late for a <\/span>handful of people<\/span><\/a> across the Pacific\u2026 To catch up with some of them and what they\u2019re thinking, the fantastic <\/span>@Trump_Regrets<\/span><\/a> Twitter account is certainly worth a follow.)<\/span><\/p>\n Podcast<\/b><\/p>\n If you thought <\/span>War on the Rocks<\/span><\/i> couldn\u2019t up their game any further, you were wrong. Cue <\/span>Bombshell<\/span><\/i>, a brand new offering from the Washington DC outfit, hosted by Loren DeJonge Schulman, Radha Iyengar Plumb and Erin Simpson. The new series will \u2018talk military strategy, White House mayhem, and the best cocktails known to (wo)man\u2019. The <\/span>first episode<\/span><\/a> (48 mins) is out now, check it out for great analysis on Trump\u2019s first week in office, the immigration order, Chelsea Manning and more.<\/span><\/p>\n Video<\/b><\/p>\n CSIS\u2019s Smart Women, Smart Power initiative this week hosted Madeleine Albright for a Q&A moderated by Nina Easton. Catch the former Secretary of State\u2019s <\/span>insights <\/span><\/a>on technology, diplomacy, trade, Russia, Brexit, the post-truth world and a stack of other areas (65 mins).<\/span><\/p>\n Director of the NYU Center on International Cooperation, Sarah Cliffe, and Director of Multilateral Affairs of the international Crisis Group, Richard Atwood, recently gave a <\/span>stellar presentation<\/span><\/a> (1hr 10 mins) at the Council on Foreign Relations on\u2026 *drumroll* …what the world needs to worry about in 2017. (\u2018sif 2016 wasn\u2019t enough\u2026) CFR\u2019s annual <\/span>Preventive Priorities Survey<\/span><\/a> ranks the top potential conflicts for the upcoming year, and is a great primer for the video.<\/span><\/p>\n Events<\/b><\/p>\n Canberra: Head along to the ANU\u2019s Australian Centre on China in the World next Tuesday for the launch of Anthony McMichael\u2019s final book, <\/span>Climate Change and the Health of Nations<\/span><\/i>. <\/span>Let \u2018em know<\/span><\/a> you\u2019re coming.<\/span><\/p>\n