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How Reykjavik successfully managed the pandemic.

Life on the island has returned to its pre-pandemic days. As global restrictions slowly ease, Christina Lu explores how the rest of the world should look at Iceland’s approach to beating the virus and safely reopening for tourism to drive the world back to normality.

Robin Miles

Why is everyone going to Iceland?

The West needs to recognise it before it’s too late.

Biden's belt and road initiative, revealed at the recent G7 conference, is an important step in rivalling China’s rising influence. But, this plan needs to focus more on technological infrastructure if it wants to be successful. Democracy and technology experts Rumana Ahmed and Moira Whelan examine how 5G could balance the scales in favour of authoritarianism or democracy worldwide.

Marni Penning

China knows the power of 5G. Why doesn’t the U.S.?

Chinese history shows what happens when an old system loses its force.

The internet is no stranger to drama. But a TikTok star’s tweet about landing a broadcast gig with minimal experience highlights the everlasting tension between those who achieve fame and fortune in the marketplace and those who attempt to climb a career in a dying industry. 

Paul Musgrave, a professor of political science, explains why to understand this dynamic fully, we can turn to China’s ancient Qing dynasty’s civil service examination system.

Karl Miller

America’s collapsing meritocracy is a recipe for revolt

What the world has misunderstood about the German chancellor.

After her 16-year reign as Germany’s chancellor, the Angela Merkel era will end. She has transformed the country from a “sick man of Europe to a leader of the European Union" and deserves admiration and praise on many counts. But what kind of leadership has she provided for the European project?

In this profile of the first female chancellor of Germany, Matthias Matthijs, an associate professor of international political economy, and R. Daniel Kelemen, a professor of Political Science, review Merkel’s tenure. While there is some truth behind the flattering narrative, there is also a darker side to her leadership that stem mostly from notorious decision-making tactics and the principles that have guided her policies.

Jonathan Booth

The other side of Angela Merkel

How a video game doubles as an incredibly accurate history lesson.

Why exactly did the Nazi invasion get so close to victory before the Soviet Union fought them off?  Michael Peck, a defence writer, reveals how a number-crunching simulation of the Eastern Front helps explains how they battled off the most powerful military of the era.

Panzers, beans, and bullets

The country's President doesn’t want to ditch dollars. He just wants his own.

Cryptocurrency expert and author David Gerard explores El Salvador’s plans to start using its own centralised form of bitcoin. He reflects on whether erratic leadership from Nayib Bukele on what some are labelling a "typical bitcoin fantasy" is likely to end in disaster.

Ron Butler

El Salvador is printing money with bitcoin

Why the practice is still flourishing.

Due to high-profile leaks, various countries and local governments have outlawed the practice, and online platforms are following suit. But despite growing pressure, it seems laws don't seem to be working. Hanna Kozlowska ponders: can anything be done to put an end to revenge porn?

Betsy Foldes Meiman

The world hasn’t figured out how to stop ‘revenge porn’

Could decentralized finance end poverty?

Many experts believe DeFi blockchains — as they're often referred to — could hold the key to sustainable development for the world’s poorest people. Mark Leon Goldberg, the editor of UN Dispatch, examines the scalable solution that could circumvents banks.

Cryptocurrency isn’t all bad

Why the instrumental use of history needs to end.

Mateusz Fafinski — a historian of late antiquity and the Middle Ages — argues that academic and political searches for cultural lessons in historical data often go wrong. Here, he reveals why diving into the past searching for coherent patterns is often used to feed into populist narratives.

Michael Bott

The past doesn’t tell easy stories about the west

It's time to start rethinking disease threats.

Alongside the discussion about tightening biosecurity, there’s also a growing awareness among experts that there may be a deeper problem at play. Alex de Waal — the executive director of the World Peace Foundation — reflects on why the mindset that helped fight the current pandemic is what got us into a situation like this in the first place.

Michael Satow

Alex de Waal: ‘War on Disease’ is a self-fulfilling prophecy

The mainstream is noticing the late thinker.

Time and again, the late academic Edward Said struck at the prejudice, deception and shortcomings at the root of US foreign policy. Amir-Hussein Radjy examines how the great academic’s views on Palestine and Israel, which were once thought of as too radical, are now considered serious insights into the conflict.

Sean Crisden

Edward Said saw the future of Israel and Palestine

We shouldn't abandon big agriculture. We should make it work better.

It's unavoidable that most agricultural and environmental impacts come from large-scale production. So what can be done to improve this? Environmental research experts Ted Nordhaus and Dan Blaustein-Rejto explore how innovation is key to improving the resource efficiency of the food system and consequentially its environmental impact.

Mark Deakins

Small farms, big pollution

Are they essential to democracy?

The world needs policy professionals. Respecting them is another matter. Jeremy Shapiro, the research director at the European Council on Foreign Relations and Matthew Rojansky is the director of the Wilson Center’s Kennan Institute, explore the deep-rooted issues that give think tanks a bad reputation despite their importance in creating crucial areas of policy.

Why everyone hates think tanks

Will Shell change its pollutant ways?

A new court ruling is holding the oil giant accountable for making more emissions than most countries. This is the first time an international tribunal has held a multinational company responsible for its role in climate change and has ordered it to change its direction. But many are unsure of how this will be implemented. Keith Johnson explores the details of the tribunal and reveals what it will mean for oil and gas companies and the fight against climate change.

Big oil’s tobacco moment

Man-made "megaconstellations" could end space travel.

Space actives are growing rapidly, but what is often left unmentioned is the rapid growth of ‘space junk’ around the Earth’s orbit. If this is left unchecked, thick fields of debris could pose a dangerous obstacle to the new era of space exploration that has just started. W. Robert Pearson — a fellow in the Rethinking Diplomacy Program at Duke University — and astrophysicist Benjamin L. Schmitt together explore the developing concerns, arguing that it is crucial to update the international Outer Space Treaty with rules that can create a positive environment for exploration.

Chris Brinkley

The crisis in space

The US military has always hoped for death rays. Does one already exist?

Cheryl Rofer analyses the rumours that an unknown microwave weapon caused unexplained health problems for the United States and Canadian embassy staff in Cuba. Journeying into the world of microwave weapons, she examines the bizarre case of “Havana Syndrome.”

Malk Williams

Claims of microwave attacks are scientifically implausible

Perceptions are starting to change.

Palestinians can no longer hold onto the Green Line, famously sketched in green ink during armistice talks in 1949. But, as the human-rights violations mount up and the one-state reality deepens, is this symbolism detached from any policy shifts that can back it up? Yousef Munayyer — a non-resident fellow at the Arab Center Washington — argues that the Green Line increasingly feels like empty rhetoric, allowing for an alternative reality that enables policymakers to look the other way.

Green-lined vision Is blurring reality in Israel-Palestine

The cost of maintaining the status quo is higher than drastic policy change.

Joe Biden’s decision to withdraw all US troops from Afghanistan has been subject to many debates. But will he regret it? As social commentators draw on the US President's past experiences to understand his justification, some see a better yet unexpected analogy: France’s withdrawal from Indochina in 1954. Nicolas Blarel and Sumit Ganguly explore how both events surprisingly parallel each other.

What Biden should learn from Indochina

The gulf between haves and have-nots is only growing.

The pandemic has intensified the global North-South divide. Wealthy western states are starting to move towards herd immunity whilst poorer countries wait for vaccines. Simon Frankel Pratt and Jamie Levin explore how the small number of countries producing their own immunisations are changing the geopolitical stratosphere — and signs that those without vaccines are exposed to diplomatic coercion are already starting to show.

Vaccines will shape the new geopolitical order

Their importance to almost all modern technologies cannot be overstated.

Countries are increasingly competing for rare earths in Greenland and beyond. But what are they? Christina Lu talks to experts and offers us a definition, explaining why they are so important both ecologically and geopolitically. In this comprehensive outline, she also examines how China’s current monopoly of the field could shape the future of the economy and technological developments.

Why rare earths are the key to just about everything

The perfect read alongside the US military's withdrawal.

War reporter Janine Di Giovanni reviews Wesley Morgan’s new book "The Hardest Place: The American Military Adrift in Afghanistan’s Pech Valley." She explains why this new text should be seen as an instant classic, as it succinctly reveals the United States’ doomed involvement in Afghanistan by focusing on one small but treacherous region. She argues that when people look to understand why the United States put so many resources into such a remote country, they will find the answers in Morgan’s incredibly detailed account. A must-listen for policymakers, intelligence officers, and diplomats.

A masterful account of America’s doomed Afghanistan mission

A once-in-a-generation challenge for a 'once-in-a-generation intellect'.

America’s new national security advisor, Jake Sullivan, is facing some unique battles. Action is needed both domestically and internationally: the past decade has created deep divides in the US whilst the competitive threat of China is more prominent than ever before. But for many, Sullivan's biggest test will be creating a foreign policy for the middle class. In this comprehensive analysis, Elise Labott examines whether he is up to the task of recovering a country left in turmoil.

The Sullivan model

Can the power of technocracy save the economy? 

The US treasury secretary and the Italian prime minister have spent decades shaping the economy. They have both spent time controlling the world’s biggest central banks and have both successfully navigated several waves of economic uncertainty in their high-flying roles. But, as Adam Tooze analyses, the pandemic has brought on the perfect challenge to test their years of centrist expertise. 

Janet Yellen is the first woman to lead the US Treasury Department and will control the most audacious round of stimulus in modern times. The Italian Prime Minister, Mario Draghi, is set with the challenge of returning Italy to growth. Will they be up to the task?

Janet Yellen and Mario Draghi have one last job

Reeducating QAnon followers.

Religious people are particularly susceptible to conspiracy theories due to their belief in the supernatural and their endorsement of a good-versus-evil worldview. In 2020, as COVID-19 raged and churches closed, echo chambers of online QAnon networks offered a safe haven for Christians trying to make sense of the world. Melissa Graves and Muhammad Fraser-Rahim analyse how programs designed to reform violent jihadis could help tackle the spread of conspiracy theories in evangelical communities.

The US needs deradicalization — for Christian extremists

Why didn't our mindsets change in lockdown?

In March 2020, a study asked experts and non-experts for their predictions on how COVID-19 would change our ways of thinking and behaving. A year later, neither group came close to being right. Michael Varnum, Cendri Hutcherson and Igor Grossman examine the faults of these estimations and argues that social behaviourists are still incredibly important in understanding how we think of the world.

Everyone was wrong on the pandemic’s societal impact

Prince Andrew's luck might be running out.

So far, his controversies — like many others in the Royal Family — have been excused under the cover of governmental and diplomatic obligations. But as Harriet Williamson analyses, his involvement with Jeffrey Epstein lacks the usual excuse of foreign affairs.

This story was originally published in Foreign Policy in September 2020.

Why do royals get away with so much?

A passionate reminder of why foreign correspondence is so important.

In its golden era, the pictures and words of journalists on the front line of conflict were a vital source in providing reliable information on the biggest moments of history. But in recent years, the profession's importance has been pushed out of the limelight by the internet. Janine di Giovanni explores this shift's troubling consequences and provides ways to bring foreign-reporting back to its glory days.

Sharon Bott

The first draft of history

Who was John Kenneth Galbraith?

An intellectual celebrity 50 years ago, the Canadian-American economist was known as Harvard's longest-serving professor and close-advisor to John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson. His economic vision put industrialism over the financier, something which made him clash with Milton Friedman. While the US and the UK sided with Friedman in the 70s and 80s, other countries like Germany, Japan, South Korea and China embraced Galbraith's principles. Now his son, James K. Galbraith, ponders if America is ready to change course.

America abandoned its economic prophet — the world embraced him

Adam Tooze on why Habermas "may be the foremost intellectual in Europe."

The renowned historian and author argues that in advocating for Europe’s economic and political integration, Jürgen Habermas was one of the 20th century’s most influential public intellectuals.  Nonetheless, it seems that in the context of the 21st century, the philosopher's relevance has all but fizzled out. In Foreign Policy, Tooze explores.

"The British historian Perry Anderson once defined the task of Marxism after the collapse of hopes for a proletarian revolution as the 'search for subjective agencies' capable of overturning capitalism. Habermas’s growing irrelevance suggests that European liberalism has mistakenly committed itself to a similar project of trying to find volunteers for its predetermined goals — and that this project may come to the same bitter end as communist aspirations. His decline as a public intellectual is more than the product of changing cultural trends or unfortunate circumstances that have thwarted some of his cherished causes. It represents the potential exhaustion of the sort of politics that his career embodies."

Why Jürgen Habermas disappeared

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on why hoarding vaccines is medically self-defeating.

Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who has been at the forefront of the World Health Organisation's response to the coronavirus pandemic, explains in Foreign Policy the struggles the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations and Gavi (COVAX) — a WHO initiative to guarantee an equal supply of the vaccine around the world — is currently facing to fulfil its mission. As richer countries continue to buy most of the vials currently in production, listen to why he thinks "vaccine nationalism is not just morally indefensible. It is epidemiologically self-defeating and clinically counterproductive."

Vaccine nationalism harms everyone and protects no one

There’s no sign of defection from Russia’s security services, let alone the army.

The Russian opposition leader, Alexei Navalny, returned to the country and was immediately arrested earlier in January, months after being poisoned in a flight from Tomsk to Moscow. Despite a strong reaction against it from members of the public and protests all across the nation, it seems Putin's grip has anything but loosen. Jeff Hawn reports for Foreign Policy.

Navalny’s bravery is unlikely to shift Putin’s entrenched power

The dollar is dead. Long live the dollar?

To understand the future of the US dollar as the world’s key currency, Adam Tooze — a renowned historian and author of "The Wages of Destruction: The Making and Breaking of the Nazi Economy" — turns to a labyrinth of discrete actions and innovations in American history, and in this piece for Foreign Policy, he explores why the currency has strengthened in 2020, with "US financial influence proving more enduring."

"The dollar has been prominent in the world economy for just over a century, a period in which we have seen the largest explosion of population, economic activity, and state violence to date, a complete rupture on many metrics with any previous epoch in the history of our species. It’s fitting, therefore, that what we sometimes describe as a dollar system is not so much a well-defined and clearly delineated institution than a constantly evolving assemblage tracking the staggering transformations of the real economy and the international power system."

The rise and fall and rise (and fall) of the U.S. financial empire

Hypocrisy has long been a component of US foreign policy — the Capitol riot doesn’t change that.

"At best, Americans have defended democratic values overseas because they realised the fragility of their own democracy and believed it would be more secure in a more democratic world. Over the past four years, Americans have watched Trump leverage his corrupt ties with autocratic leaders and seen how right-wing nationalists around the world share conspiracies and draw inspiration from each other. This should make it all the more apparent that the struggle for democracy is a shared one, to which even a deeply flawed America must also contribute." Nick Danforth reflects in Foreign Policy.

Sarah Naughton

Democracy at home and democracy promotion abroad aren’t the same

“No two countries that both have a McDonald’s have ever fought a war against each other.”

In the rich, lazy, and happy 1990s, Americans imagined a world that could be just like them, and in this fascinating piece for Foreign Policy, political commentator Paul Musgrave delves into Thomas Friedman's "Golden Arches Theory of Conflict Prevention”, a correlation between declining wars and "the expansion of global capitalism."

The beautiful, dumb dream of McDonald’s peace theory

Agriculture’s importance to the country's labour market cannot be underestimated.

Laws passed in India's parliament in September 2020 have angered farmers across the nation, who since then have been marching to New Delhi and blocking highways leading to the city. These reforms aimed to facilitate production amid many things, but the way they have been brought forward upset farmers, as they weren't consulted. Now, many fear "the new legislation will weaken government-designated markets in which most transactions have taken place in past decades." Surupa Gupta and Sumit Ganguly explore in Foreign Policy.

Why India’s farmers won’t stop protesting

Two roommates travelling in Florida found themselves caught in the teeth of espionage fears.

Wang Yuhao and Zhang Jielun were painted by the US media as spies, embodying "a theory of Chinese espionage where multiple small bits of sensitive information are collected by everyone from students to tourists." Now sitting in a Florida penitentiary waiting to be deported, these two men may have been victims of misunderstanding, and a now more common racial stereotype, in the US. Eric Fish investigates in Foreign Policy.

"Cedric Leighton, a military analyst and former intelligence officer in the U.S. Air Force, said that there is an ongoing pattern of Chinese espionage that includes using temporary, nonprofessional actors such as students to carry out relatively unsophisticated operations, and that the Naval Air Station Key West is a likely target for Chinese espionage. But he also notes that it’s certainly possible Wang and Zhang “took a proverbial wrong turn.”

Were they lost students or inept spies for China?

The nation's lack of action in controlling COVID may be rooted in purely pragmatic use of language.

As of November 2020, Switzerland has overtaken Belgium and is on pace to surpass Czech Republic as Europe’s top COVID-19 hot spot. Infections are roughly triple the per capita count in Sweden or the United States and double the European Union average. So, why hasn't the government done anything substantial about it? Joseph de Weck explains in this sharp critique for Foreign Policy.

Switzerland is choosing austerity over life

Reflections on the favourite board game of Washington officials.

David Klion’s childhood frenemy, Michael Ellis, became one of the most quietly powerful officials in Washington - and he might have Diplomacy, a strategic board game of cynical realpolitik, to thank for it. In this remarkable article, he tells his story.

The game that ruins friendships and shapes careers

Deciphering how fans of the Korean band BTS took on China, and won.

After China’s media offensive against the kings of K-pop barely lasted two days, expert in Asian politics and economy, S. Nathan Park, reflects in Foreign Policy on how a K-pop disagreement shows that China could learn a lot from the well-received soft power of South Korea.

China backs off from fight with K-Pop fans

Great powers have taken big steps to fight global warming — now attention turns to the rest of the world.

In this fascinating piece for Foreign Policy, the popular historian and author of 'Crashed: How a Decade of Financial Crises Changed the World', Adam Tooze, takes an in-depth look to the current status of the world's fight against climate change. Analysing China's recent decision to be carbon neutral by 2060, he believes "climate change politics at a global level have shifted into a new gear."

Welcome to the final battle for the climate

Pandemics are not always transformative events. 

While some worrying preexisting trends could accelerate, it’s incorrect to assume that the coronavirus will end globalization, kill liberal democracy, or enhance China’s soft power. Joseph S. Nye Jr, from Foreign Policy, reflects.

COVID-19 might not change the world

The technology to build new green economies is mostly produced in China. That’s bad for the US.

Beijing is winning the clean energy race — President Xi Jinping recently announced his country's intention to peak its emissions by 2030 and be carbon neutral before 2060. Sarah Ladislaw and Nikos Tsafos, from Foreign Policy, analyse.


Beijing is winning the clean energy race

The Soviet collapse caused a brutal conflict that’s remained unresolved for three decades.

Fighting has intensified along the effective Armenian-Azerbaijani border around the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh. James Palmer, writing in Foreign Policy, explains why.


Why are Armenia and Azerbaijan heading to war?

US political parties have reshuffled every few decades, and 2020 may be the year they do it again.

In a year that has already seen impeachment, plague, and fire, and with total warfare battle over filling Ruth Bader Ginsburg's Supreme Court seat and an even higher-stakes and equally uncertain election still to come, it's easy to feel as if US democracy is crumbling before our eyes. But could this all lead to a radical change of the country's politics and economy? Lee Drutman contemplates the chances of it happening in Foreign Policy.

Andi Arndt

The Republican and Democratic Parties are heading for collapse

China might have permanently changed the global fight against climate change.

In a little-noticed speech in September's United Nations General Assembly, Xi Jinping vowed to make the Asian superpower adopt stricter measures in the fight against carbon emissions, going as far as to say he expects the country to be carbon neutral by 2060. With the US pulling back from the Paris Agreement, Adam Tooze wonders in Foreign Policy if China will become the surprising new world leader in climate change matters.

Did Xi just save the world?

In the last decade, Brussels has outsmarted Beijing, London, Moscow and Washington.

Everyone writes off the European Union as dull and prone to fracture. But for politics professor Andrew Moravcsik, the continent's swift reaction to the coronavirus pandemic, compared to other parts of the world, is only a recent example of why Europe's future is brighter than pundits predict. In Foreign Policy, he explains his arguments.

Why Europe wins

The history of Islam in Western Europe is both older and more entangled than many think.

Before the continent started banning hijabs, aristocrats used to change their names to Abdullah and Muhammad, and going to the local mosque was the latest trend. Marya Hannun and Sophie Spaan take us on a remarkable journey through Europe's relationship with Islam.

Imani Jade Powers

When Europe loved Islam

The next pandemic could be bioengineered in someone’s garage using cheap technology.

With COVID-19 bringing Western economies to their knees, all the world’s dictators now know that pathogens can be as destructive as nuclear missiles. What’s even more worrying is that it no longer takes a sprawling government lab to engineer a virus. Vivek Wadhwa contemplates the future dangers of genetic engineering for Foreign Policy.

The genetic engineering genie is out of the bottle

The United States has abdicated its dominant role — here’s how to fill the gap.

The crisis offers the opportunity to transform the global order from one dominated by a single state, or a small number of them, to a more equal system of global governance. Professors Oona Hathaway and Scott J. Shapiro analyse how in Foreign Policy.

Monita Rajpal

Welcome to the post-leader world

Reviewing Anna Applebaum's book, 'Twilight of Democracy: The Seductive Lure of Authoritarianism'.

For the chairman of the Centre for Liberal Strategies in Sofia, Ivan Krastev, the famous journalist and historian wants to understand rising illiberalism, but is clinging to a Cold War moral framework that no longer applies. In Foreign Policy, he analyses why.

The tragic romance of the nostalgic western liberal

Panama came up with a novel — and uniquely discriminatory — public health measure to combat COVID-19.

When the coronavirus pandemic hit Panama in March 2020, the country imposed strict lockdown measures that allowed both women and men to go out for emergencies on differently assigned days. This, however, threw transgender people into a dangerous limbo, in what already is one of the least progressive nations on trans rights. Marta Martinez reports on the impact of such measures for Foreign Policy.

Transgender and trapped in sex-based social distancing

Understanding how recent nationwide protests have made the American political system stronger, and not weaker.

Democracies have greater legitimacy because citizens largely support the system and its institutions. Dictatorships rely on performance — and they fail when they don’t produce results. Professor of political science at Barnard College in Columbia University, Sheri Berman, analyses.

Why protests threaten dictatorships but make democracies stronger

Applying 20th-century analogies to the U.S.-Chinese relationship shows a misunderstanding of the present.

For Zachary Karabell, a Cold War is not a reference that should be used loosely. In this remarkable analysis for Foreign Policy, he explains the key differences between the US conflict with the Soviet Union then, and their ongoing disputes with China today.

There’s no cold war with China

Younger Afghans are on a mission to change how their country talks about life, death, and freedom.

"Khalil's death has accentuated the multigenerational nature of the Afghan conflict, now threatening young people who have never known peace. The latest generation, though, appears ready to fight back in new ways." In Foreign Policy, Ruchi Kumar analyses Afghanistan's younger generations drive for change.

Afghanistan’s Gen Z is fighting back

Why the omnipresence of large-scale threats of global scope can be the common denominator of our new epoch.

Ulrich Beck was a prophet of uncertainty — does that make him the most important intellectual for the pandemic and its aftermath? Adam Tooze, from Foreign Policy, examines the German sociologist's work and what it can teach us about the current state of the world, and its most immediate future.

The sociologist who could save us from coronavirus

When the coronavirus crisis is over, China will be forced to embrace a less ambitious future.

How is it possible that a self-described developing country like China can finance a superpower rivalry with the United States? Well, perhaps it isn't really. Salvatore Babones, from Foreign Policy, investigates whether the country's display of economic prowess actually matches its finances.

China’s superpower dreams are running out of money

Has the US-led world order crumbled?

After the end of World War II, the 20th century was once declared 'America's century', a statement which following global events indeed validated. Nonetheless, the beginning of the 21st century has seen attitudes towards the United States change radically, and as Zachary Karabell comments in Foreign Policy, this anti-American identity was already well-advanced before the pandemic but certainly accelerated and cemented by it. Here, he contemplates why.

Gary Furlong

The anti-American century

Since 1971, the relationship between both has remained the same: of consistently unique use.

Conventional wisdom holds that New Delhi will turn to Washington as it increases competition with Beijing. But Moscow's importance cannot be ignored. Emily Tamkin explains the reasons why in Foreign Policy.

Why India and Russia are going to stay friends

With little faith in the government’s coronavirus response, many rural Cambodians are turning to the divine.

"Although Cambodia is a majority-Theravada Buddhist nation, there is a broad range of diversity among minority belief systems, including elements of animism, Hinduism, Islam, and Christianity. Each has a unique interpretation of the novel coronavirus’s genesis, why the pandemic came into being, and the toll it will take on the world — reflecting not only fears about the pandemic, but also other worries in turbulent times." Jade Sacker investigates for Foreign Policy.

In Cambodia, a spiritual army battles an earthly pandemic

Trump's looking for a divorce with China, and the EU doesn't look far behind.

"'We are committed to making swift and substantial progress,' said Ursula von der Leyen, after the summit, ticking off a litany of unfulfilled Chinese promises on trade, investment, industrial subsidies, climate change, and human rights. 'We count on the Chinese leadership to match our level of ambition.'" Keith Johnson, for Foreign Policy, reports on the increasingly challenging relationship between the EU and China.

Emma Powell

How Europe fell out of love with China

Our relationship with the economy will never be the same again.

"For the first time, an economic crisis resulted not from the sudden loss of control over economic processes but from a collective decision to switch off large segments of the economy. On a graph, it seems less appropriate to plot a rapidly nosediving line than one frozen in time." Bruno Maçães contemplates for Foreign Policy.

The great pause was an economic revolution

He remains a highly controversial figure, but his ideas can't be ignored, especially not today.

Neoconservatism has died, and liberal internationalism is discredited. Foreign Policy's Senior Correspondent and Deputy News Editor, Michael Hirsh, analyses why perhaps it’s time to return to the ideas of one of the last century’s greatest realists: Henry Kissinger.

Welcome back to Kissinger’s world

Westerners learn the wrong lessons from a distant massacre.

The George Floyd protests in the United States draw stark parallels with the Tiananmen Square massacre in China. Rui Zhong, writing in Foreign Policy, looks at why Westerners often feel so disconnected from foreign tragedies, and what they fail to learn from them.

Kelsey Navarro

Tiananmen can happen here

Recent escalations between the two nations are putting three decades of peace in danger.

"After a long period of relative quiet along the Sino-Indian border, militarized incidents have come to the fore again. According to the Indian government, the Chinese military crossed into Indian territory 1,025 times between 2016 and 2018. Given that China and India's borders remain unmarked, such transgressions are likely rooted in how Beijing and New Delhi have different perceptions about the extent of their territories." Sumit Ganguly and Manjeet S. Pardesi, writing in Foreign Policy, report.

Why we should worry about China and India’s border skirmishes

With war language thrown around so readily, it’s time to admit what the war was — and wasn’t.

"The height of historical reimagining is reached when French and German diplomats look back to 1945 and piously assure each other that this was the moment when they learned to get along better and not to repeat the mistakes of the vindictive Treaty of Versailles. In fact, the reverse is closer to the truth. The Allies learned that forcing Germany to a mere unconditional surrender had been a mistake. As the fighting finally ended in May 1945, the first best option was simply to erase Germany from the map." Adam Tooze explores our remembrance of World War II.

We remember World War II wrong

Science fiction, strategy and national security: here's how the arts are invaluable for strategists.

"The long shadow of the Trojan War reminds us that creative methodologies are essential components of the national security and foreign-policy toolkit. And we will need to use all the tools we can get in order to figure out our way forward while COVID-19 ravages an already complicated world." Kathleen J. McInnis, writing in Foreign Policy, demonstrates why fiction is not frivolous.

Teri Schnaubelt

Strategists have forgotten the power of stories

Anger against Israel's government is rising among Jordanians.

Despite the peace agreement both countries signed based on mutual trust in 1994, the relationship today seems to be in trouble, as Jordan’s foreign ministry announced that Israeli farmers would no longer be allowed to work their fields in an enclave of southern Jordan. Former Editor In Chief of Jerusalem Report, Eetta Prince-Gibson analyses the escalating tensions for Foreign Policy.

Annexation could be the final blow to the Israel-Jordan relationship

Insurgents typically excel at exploiting state weaknesses and crises and COVID-19 is no exception.

"In Afghanistan, the Taliban have long refused demands for a cease-fire—at least against local forces — and the pandemic hasn’t altered their stance. On the contrary, the Taliban have increased their attacks." The Islamist group is using the coronavirus crisis for propaganda, with potentially dire consequences for those living under its control. Ashley Jackson, writing in Foreign Policy, reports.

For the Taliban, the pandemic is a ladder

Reaching global agreement is essential for the world’s marine fishing stocks - and the future of the WTO.

Tuna, cod, and mackerel are going to decide the future of the global trading order as the WTO struggles to complete a deal on fisheries subsidies, the only major global trade negotiations still actively underway. James Bacchus and Inu Manak report for Foreign Policy.

The fate of the WTO and global trade hangs on fish

$500 billion high-tech city includes forced evictions, vague promises, and the killing of an activist.

Saudi Arabia's Neom, "33 times the size of New York City", is a cornerstone of the crown prince's Vision 2030 plan to diversify the Saudi economy away from reliance on oil revenues. But, how far is the Saudi government willing to go to see it through? Sarah Leah Whitson and Abdullah Alaoudh investigate in Foreign Policy.

Mohammed bin Salman’s bloody dream city of Neom

COVID-19 has bucked conventional wisdom on how the industry must operate.

"Big Pharma and its wealthy government backers have long defended their high prices and strict patent rules by pointing to the need to protect their intellectual property (or IP) given the time and expense involved in research and development. They argue that companies would have little incentive to invest in development without years of high prices first. Only then can they permit widespread production of low-cost generic versions that would benefit everyone." Ethan Guillén and Melissa Chan, writing in Foreign policy explore how the coronavirus outbreak has upended this norm.

The remaking of Big Pharma in a post-pandemic world

Former North Korean diplomat to newly elected South Korean politician.

"Prejudice in the country against former North Koreans runs deep, with defectors often accused of being spies. For most North Koreans, liberation has its share of trauma, with many finding it hard to adjust to South Korea's fierce job market and intense democracy." Thae Yong-ho wants to change that. Writing in Foreign Policy, Melissa Chan profiles the man who could be a key role in the future of Korean politics.

The future of Korean politics might be this defector from Pyongyang

Economist Thomas Piketty’s new book, Capital and Ideology, as reviewed by Foreign Policy.

"Radical solutions once seemed unthinkable in the past, too — until suddenly they no longer were." Foreign Policy's geopolitics correspondent, Keith Johnson, looks at Thomas Piketty’s new book, which examines rising inequality and offers some 'controversial' solutions.

The tyranny of property

The EU is a creature of multilateralism. Can it survive in a deglobalised world?

"Geopolitics is the ruthless pursuit of self-interest by powerful states, no matter the cost to others. Multilateralism involves mutual agreements among states pursuing their collective welfare. At a minimum, the two sit awkwardly with each other; at the worst, they are radically incompatible." Henry Farrell, professor of political science and international affairs at the George Washington University, analyses in Foreign Policy.

A most lonely union

Written by leading world economist and the former governor of the Reserve Bank of India.

"There is an alternative embraced by countries like Canada: to celebrate culture within community rather than attempting an impossible national homogeneity. Some communities will choose monoculture, while others will choose multicultural lifestyles." Raghuram Rajan, writing in Foreign Policy, looks at why sustainable capitalism needs to consider societal underpinnings and not just rely on competitive markets.

How to save global capitalism from itself

As many are turning to his socialist ideas in the face of the coronavirus pandemic, Sanders leaves the stage.

"Cantankerous, uncompromising, and utterly convinced of his righteousness, Senator Bernie Sanders was like a socialist Moses who never got to see the promised land—even as both parties, the U.S. government, and much of the world were shifting in his direction, especially in the face of a pandemic that has brought about unprecedented federal intervention." Michael Hirsh, writing in Foreign Policy explains.

How the world got Berned

The case that puts the Pentagon's watchdog office credibility into question.

"On Jan. 8, 2019, Steve Luke was found dead in the trunk of his red Volvo S60 in the parking garage of the Mark Center office building, home to the Pentagon’s Office of the Inspector General. An Alexandria police department investigation concluded that Luke — a father of four who had been stalked by depression throughout his adult life — had killed himself. He was 54 years old." Amy Mackinnon, investigates in Foreign Policy.

Death of a whistleblower

Is the ensuing global emergency an unexpected opportunity for goodwill between the two countries?

Barack Obama's former special assistant for the Middle East, Robert Malley, and Ali Vaez explore in Foreign Policy how the coronavirus pandemic could give Washington and Tehran an unprecedented opportunity; to show goodwill, dial down tensions while saving face, and avoid a dangerous confrontation.

The coronavirus crisis is a diplomatic opportunity for the United States and Iran

A series of choreographed moves have set the stage for him to rule until at least 2036.

Vladimir Putin has been serving as the current President of Russia since 2012, after an initial run between 2000 and 2008. With his current term scheduled to end in 2024, the question in many people's minds is: what will he do next? Given the recent developments, we might have found out the answer. Foreign Policy's Russia correspondent, Reid Standish, reports.

Will Putin be Russia’s president for life?

Former special assistant to President Barack Obama explains the latest geopolitical earthquake.

"While past oil shocks have been driven by either supply or demand, the price collapse of 2020 is highly unusual in oil market history: It results from a massive demand shock and a huge supply overhang at the same time." Jason Bordoff, former senior director on the staff of the U.S. National Security Council and special assistant to Barack Obama, writes reports for Foreign Policy.

Why this oil crash is different

After his death last month, we examine the former Egyptian president's conflicted legacy.

Steven A. Cook, writing in Foreign Policy, looks at how the eulogies for Egypt’s fourth president focused on his downfall, and why history will remember his overlooked accomplishments while in office.

Ken Foster

The whole world got Hosni Mubarak wrong

Listen together: dirigibles ruled the skies once —  can they make a comeback?

Many often think the Hindenburg disaster in 1937 marked the definitive end of airships. And yet, although in lesser force, these have continued to take the skies ever since (remember those Goodyear blimps?). Nonetheless, there is one French company ready to take them to an even higher level. Justin Lin, writing in Foreign Policy, explores.

Find more great listens under "Kids and Family" on the Discover page. 

The age of the airship may be dawning again

China made huge mistakes managing the outbreak. The rest of the world may not do any better.

Melissa Chan and Ethan Guillen writing in Foreign Policy, investigate the West's discouraging response to the COVID-19 virus outbreak, and whether human-made mistakes could exponentially increment the crisis.

The West is about to fail the coronavirus test

How Bong Joon-ho conjured up a tale of economic insecurity.

"Parasite, the first foreign-language film to win the Academy Award for best picture, and the first to be condemned in public by a U.S. president, is a story of poverty and inequality." S. Nathan Park, writing in Foreign Policy, analyses the movie's bigger message about South Korea's middle-class.

‘Parasite’ has a hidden backstory of middle-class failure and chicken joints

Will the U.S.-Taliban truce bring peace to Afghanistan or further disruption?

As the U.S.-Taliban truce raises some hope for Afghans — the absence of the Afghan government to the talks is raising fears of yet another civil war. Author and freelance journalist Emran Feroz, writing in Foreign Policy, reports.

Afghans fear yet another civil war

Why this Academy Award winner wouldn't have been made without Miky Lee's money and influence.

The South Korean film Parasite has broken records and made Oscars history by becoming the first foreign film to win Best Picture. Here, Geoffry Cain, writing in Foreign Policy, explains how the vision of a Korean heiress super-charged the country's film industry and paved the way for Bong Joon-ho's film.

How a Samsung heiress helped make ‘Parasite’ a triumph

Why poshness is more than castles and cream tea - it's about class, power and privilege.

The Queen, Boris Johnson, the cast of TV show Made in Chelsea - what do they all have in common? Well, they're all posh to start with. Writing in Foreign Policy, Josh Glancy, explains.

British elites know who isn’t quite their type

Ten precautions to protect you from contracting coronavirus.

As China’s epidemic continues to spread, things may seem scary. Former senior fellow for global health at the Council on Foreign Relations and Pulitzer Prize-winning science writer Laurie Garrett, writing in Foreign Policy, shares some advice on how to stay calm and safe from the virus.

The Wuhan virus: how to stay safe

Population ageing is a mark of success - but somehow, it's also a problem in of itself. 

Writing in Foreign Policy, Nicholas Gailey looks at a report into the EU's demographic future and sheds some light on why it need not look so grim.