Leaving Afghanistan
What happens to the country and its people after the forever war ends?
China Brief: Why China’s Supply Chains Are Breaking Down Why China’s Supply Chains Are Breaking ...
Nordic Countries Aren’t Actually Socialist
Denmark, Norway, and Sweden shouldn’t be held up as socialist utopias.
Beijing Must Face Olympic Consequences for Human Rights Abuses
Moving the Games offers a rare opportunity to weaken Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Why China’s Supply Chains Are Breaking Down
Fear of coronavirus outbreaks and recent manufacturing struggles are causing disruptions with global ripple effects.
Foreign Aid Won’t Moderate the Taliban
International assistance isn’t the political lever many hope it will be.
Shadow Government
A front-row seat to the Republicans’ debate over foreign policy, including their critique of the Biden administration.
Float, Move, and Fight
How the U.S. Navy lost the shipbuilding race.
Sea Power Makes Great Powers
History reveals a country’s rise and decline are directly related to the heft of its navy. So why is the United States intent on downsizing?
The Ever Given Crew Are Still Stuck at Sea
Here’s why and what their story means for other seafarers.
Indira Gandhi’s Lesson for Modi
A new account of India’s state of emergency in the 1970s takes on fresh relevance amid its ongoing erosion of democracy.
Horror Week
Germany’s Love Affair With Crime Fiction
The genre is a potent mirror for a country still coming to terms with itself.
‘Squid Game’ Hides a Hopeful Message Within a Dystopian Nightmare
Netflix’s new Korean horror drama suggests there’s more to life than the brutal realities of neoliberal capitalism.
How a Bloody French Fairy Tale Explains France’s Sexual Politics
The tale of Bluebeard the serial wife-killer echoes in the #MeToo movement.
What I Learned About the Coronavirus World From Watching Zombie Flicks
There are terrible parallels between the pandemic and the zombie apocalypse. But don’t despair—there is hope for humanity yet.
Long Reads
China’s Sham Meritocracy Has Created a Burned-Out Generation
As the government pushes productivity, young Chinese are embracing cynicism.
Liz Truss, True Believer
From Brexit-skeptic to face of the “Global Britain” agenda, the new foreign secretary has always seen politics as philosophy in action.
The Spy Who Could Have Saved Syria
An espionage thriller presents an alternative to former U.S. President Barack Obama’s failed policy toward the Assad regime.
‘It’s Like We’re Caged Everywhere We Go’
Rohingya refugees in India are facing persecution yet again.
The End of Sanctions?
Sunset for U.N. Sanctions?
How the world came to depend on U.N. punitive measures and why the enforcement system is under threat—the first in a series by FP’s Colum Lynch.
‘The Worst Bloody Job in the World’
U.N. sanctions inspectors feel unsupported and unsafe.
Russia’s Sanctions Problem
Are its U.N. panel obstructions about short-term leverage, or are they intended as an existential threat to the system?
‘It Was Like Having the Chinese Government in the Room With Us’
China’s method for blocking sanctions regimes.
visual stories
The Month in World Photos
Haitian migrants at the southern U.S. border, global climate emergencies, and anti-government and anti-lockdown protests around the world.
In Central Africa, Russia Won the War—but It’s Losing the Peace
Putin’s pursuit of influence, arms sales, and mercenary meddling in the Central African Republic has left Moscow mired in a quagmire.
