2022
February
14
Monday

Monitor Daily Podcast

February 14, 2022
Loading the player...
Clayton Collins
Director of Editorial Innovation

Some Super Bowl fans – especially in Cincinnati – were hoping their team would end a 33-year dry spell on Sunday. Instead, pro football’s Cincinnati Bengals lost a close one to the Los Angeles Rams.

But for viewers looking closely, the Super Bowl venue in Inglewood, California, still showcased a small win – for climate action. While all big stadiums require a lot of pavement for parking, SoFi Stadium’s green urban landscape also includes a 5.5-acre lake that collects rainwater.

And while one promising (and costly) structure won’t shift society to a mindset of hope on climate change mitigation, it might begin to address a kind of anxiety that can be immobilizing. 

“Future industrial development is on track to be cleaner than past industrial development,” writes journalist Matthew Yglesias, “even without any new policy changes or technological breakthroughs.” 

And a study on “positive tipping points,” unpacked last week in The Guardian, looked at how “small interventions” by “small groups” can build and deliver social change as they gather critical mass and start delivering economies of scale. 

“I wanted to show that, if you understand the complexity,” said a professor who worked on the study, “it can open up windows of opportunity to actually change things.” 

Consider inroads by electric cars, or plant-based meat alternatives. Consider stadiums with lakes or gardens. The new becomes the norm. As Mr. Yglesias writes, “It’s worth trying to dispel the sense of helplessness.”


You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.

Today’s stories

And why we wrote them

Dominique Soguel
Ukrainian cybersecurity expert Serhiy Prokopenko is seen here in front of a display showing threats at the National Coordination Center for Cybersecurity in Kyiv, Ukraine, Feb. 2, 2022. He says the cyberattacks used against Ukraine may be tried against the West next. “We are on the front line,” he says.

Ukraine isn’t dealing just with Russian troops on its borders. It also faces a constant misinformation campaign targeting the hearts and minds of Ukrainians that it is struggling to manage.

Reforming the process for counting electoral votes has bipartisan support, but still faces hurdles. Lawmakers must balance federal and state power, and guard against creating new vulnerabilities.

Courtesy of ITworks
Two women at a job fair in Beersheva, Israel, in 2020 sponsored by itworks, which organizes trainings for aspiring Arab computer engineers and helps place them in jobs in Israel's lucrative tech sector.

As the Israeli tech sector took off, young Arab citizens were at a disadvantage. New moves to correct that inequity offer benefits to all: a bigger slice, and a bigger pie.

Difference-maker

Older people are among the most isolated during the pandemic. Online tools to stay in touch often leave them behind. One group is using an old-fashioned way to keep them company from a safe social distance.

Books

Karen Norris/Staff

Valentine’s Day isn’t just about couples or romantic love. It can also include the bonds among friends, families, and even communities. This group of novels answers the call for connection.


The Monitor's View

Reuters
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock talks to Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) members near a checkpoint in eastern Ukraine, Feb. 8.

For decades, whenever Russia sought transparency on what other countries in Europe were doing with their militaries, it often turned to a little-known institution created during the Cold War. The 57 member states of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe are bound together to keep the Continent “whole and free.” Now with a flurry of diplomatic activity to prevent a possible Russian invasion of Ukraine, the OSCE may be center stage in keeping the peace.

Last week, Ukraine asked the OSCE to discuss the issue of Russia not living up to its agreement about military transparency. As is its right under OSCE rules, Ukraine wants detailed explanations of Russia massing more than 130,000 troops along the Ukrainian border.

“If Russia is serious when it talks about the indivisibility of security in the OSCE space, it must fulfill its commitment to military transparency in order to de-escalate tensions and enhance security for all,” tweeted Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba.

Russia is expected to boycott any OSCE meeting on the matter. Yet Ukraine’s move was a subtle move. It plays to its neighbor’s past pursuits for peace and confidence-building in Europe, whether it is transparency in military maneuvers or risk reduction through arms control pacts. Russia is more complex than the simple narrative of a bully. Appealing to its better nature could be as persuasive as threats of severe sanctions.  

As Europe’s top security body, the OSCE may be the best forum to deal with Russia’s concerns about a possible expansion of NATO. The Vienna-based organization is one of the few bodies in which the United States and Russia are voting members. And it is already heavily involved in Ukraine. For nearly eight years, its observers have monitored a cease-fire between government forces and Russia-backed separatists in the eastern region.

An invasion of Ukraine by Russia could lead the OSCE to evict it. One reason: Members are obligated not to view any part of the OSCE region as a sphere of its influence. Eviction from the OSCE would curb, if not end, the Kremlin’s ability to shape Europe’s security by peaceful means.

On Feb. 15, the current chair of the OSCE, Polish Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau, is scheduled to visit Moscow. His will be the latest effort to persuade President Vladimir Putin not to invade Ukraine. He may also remind Mr. Putin of his country’s history of relying on a body designed around principles that have helped keep the peace on a continent with a long history of wars.


A Christian Science Perspective

About this feature

Each weekday, the Monitor includes one clearly labeled religious article offering spiritual insight on contemporary issues, including the news. The publication – in its various forms – is produced for anyone who cares about the progress of the human endeavor around the world and seeks news reported with compassion, intelligence, and an essentially constructive lens. For many, that caring has religious roots. For many, it does not. The Monitor has always embraced both audiences. The Monitor is owned by a church – The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston – whose founder was concerned with both the state of the world and the quality of available news.

We can never be separated from the graceful, empowering rhythm of God – divine Soul, infinite Love itself – that moves in us, as this poem conveys.


A message of love

Kirby Lee/USA TODAY Sports NPSTrans toppic
Los Angeles Rams defensive end Aaron Donald is interviewed with his wife, Erica Donald, and children Jaeda, Aaron Jr., and Aaric, after defeating the Cincinnati Bengals in the Super Bowl at SoFi Stadium Feb. 13, 2022, in Inglewood, California.
( The illustrations in today’s Monitor Daily are by Jacob Turcotte. )

A look ahead

Thanks for starting your week with us. Come back tomorrow. The West has promised unprecedented sanctions against Russia should it invade Ukraine. But we’ve heard that before, and Russia has persevered. Would this time really be different? Fred Weir reports from Moscow.

More issues

2022
February
14
Monday

Give us your feedback

We want to hear, did we miss an angle we should have covered? Should we come back to this topic? Or just give us a rating for this story. We want to hear from you.