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 @EurasiaGroup or @IanBremmer. 

Must-Reads

1. "Al Qaeda 3.0: Terrorism's Emergent New Power Bases"
Bruce Riedel, The Daily Beast

In a world where international governance is breaking down, leaders are focused more on domestic than on foreign policy challenges. This trend extends to al Qaeda, an organization transitioning from global to local goals.

2. "India's African ‘Safari'"
Sudha Ramachandran, The Diplomat

We hear a lot about the US and China's conflicting investment approaches in Africa, but there's precious little written on Africa's fourth largest trading partner: India. With trade increasing by a factor of 17 over the last decade, India-Africa relations are becoming much more interesting. 

3. "How Crash Cover-Up Altered China's Succession"
Jonathan Ansfield, New York Times

How will Beijing's leadership manage the challenges that come with an era of more open information? What will the rest of us learn about the Chinese leadership's taste in cars, clothes and once-hidden power politics?

4. "Merkel's mastery of politics"
Michael Fry, The Scotsman

Is Angela Merkel the most talented politician in the world?  Her domestic political tactics shed light on her policies with regard to the Eurozone and beyond. 

5. "A free-trade agreement with Europe?"
David Ignatius, The Washington Post

Though still on the drawing board, the Trans-Pacific Partnership has far-reaching security and economic implications for North America and the Asia Pacific region.  Progress on an Atlantic equivalent seems beyond the horizon. But is an ‘economic NATO' already in the planning stages? 

6. "The mother of all worst-case assumptions about Iran"
Stephen M. Walt, Foreign Policy

Would a nuclear Iran carry "shattering geopolitical significance?" This piece overstates its case at times, but it's a question that demands consideration.

The Weekly Bonus:

"Floating Housing (And Golf Courses) For Post-Climate-Change Island Paradises"
Co.EXIST blog, Fast Company

In a G-Zero world, don't expect political leaders to tackle climate change. An ineffectual climate summit meeting in Doha this week makes that all the more obvious.  If climate change continues unabated, the Maldives will end up underwater.  The government knows it, hosting a cabinet meeting on the ocean floor in full scuba gear in 2009, and inquiring about land purchases abroad. But even the most daunting risks come with opportunities, however whimsical they may seem.

I attended a dinner on alternative energy, hosted by Liz Claman over at Fox (previously CNBC), with a couple of heavy energy hitters and the ever-present Tom Friedman on the panel. 

It was a pretty bleak couple of hours, given the aftermath of Copenhagen. Most surprising to me was a snap poll of the room, which had about 100 in attendance -- I'd say 60 Americans - asking who thought some form of climate change/energy bill would pass in congress by June. Zero folks raised their hand. (Problematic methodology warning -- it's harder to raise your hand than to keep it down, but still...) By next June? About 25 percent, 30 percent if I'm feeling generous. And it's late, so I'm not particularly.

Tom Friedman, in his every year Davos garb (casual oxford and sweater), had the most enjoyable quote of the evening: "If horses could vote, we wouldn't be driving cars." Really makes me glad we've limited suffrage.

I have no idea if that was already in a Friedman column. Or even Hot, Flat and Crowded. (My apologies, Tom). But having said that, my snap view is that he's a national treasure. He tends to be sensible, he works/travels the world like a banshee with near unparalleled access, and -- most importantly -- he actually speaks English. Crowds of all shapes and sizes can actually relate to what he's saying. They don't tune him out, even when they're jetlagged after a long overnight flight to Zurich. 

I'm convinced we'd be in a much better place on climate change if most serious climatologists could actually present in plain English and engage an audience.

Case in point from dinner: The truly lovely Bangladeshi economist Muhammad Yunus. He is charming one-on-one, and doing tremendous work bringing affordable alternative energy (solar power) to villages throughout his country. But his ponderous intervention, late in the dinner, three times returning to the importance of having the people running the country and not the government, had everybody scratching their heads. Affably, mind you. But still.

One more meeting, and then there's a Clinton thing (he's been ubiquitous today ... and the one fellow at Davos that folks are stopping to take pictures of) that I'd like to attend. Word is Clinton's talking about Haiti. And losing his voice. We'll see.

Ian Bremmer will be blogging from Davos this week sending reports and commentary from inside the World Economic Forum.