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Can Chinese Authoritarianism Stay Smart?
Beijing’s continued economic growth depends on a fragile balance of control and freedom.
What Is ‘the West’?
The idea of a cohesive West is fading, but a new book finds that the concept endures.
The TV Show That Divided Taiwan
Even imagining a potential Chinese invasion of the island has become a political act.
FP’s 2025 Holiday Gift Guide
Treats and treasures from around the world.
Asia & the Pacific
India’s Strategic Autonomy Is Now Reading as Aloof
China
Decoding the Trump-Xi Phone Call
Middle East & Africa
Syria’s Yazidi Community Faces the Future With Concern
Europe
House Republicans Slam Witkoff Over Handling of Russia-Ukraine Talks
Americas
Trump’s Religious Freedom Agenda Needs to Extend Beyond Nigeria
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Kenyan police officers in camouflage clothing display a white flag with the words "Multinational Security Mission" in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. -
Two men, Tinubu and Xi, are seen in profile as they shake hands and smile at each other in front of long wood desks. Both men are dressed formally. -
Job seekers walk between tents at a job fair in Beijing. -
An overhead satellite image shows patchy dirt ground and buildings, some small and one larger, that sit along a road.
Foreign-Policy Fantasy Literature
Under Trump 2.0, a new book by policymaking heavyweights is an exercise in absurdity.
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A book in the background and Donald Trump in the foreground in a photo illustration. -
A black and white film still of people walking in the street in Paris in the 1960s. -
A poster shows a woman with a rifle and babushka on her head under a red flag in front of smoking factory chimneys.
Trump’s Foreign-Policy Shifts
Reports and analysis from staff and contributors.
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U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Vietnamese Defense Minister Phan Van Giang shake hands at the Defense Ministry’s headquarters in Hanoi, Vietnam, on Nov. 2. -
President Donald Trump speaks with a smiling Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman as the two men stand in front of a ceremonial military honor guard and other dignitaries in front of the White House.
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U.S. soldiers man their security position in Panama City during Operation Just Cause. -
Swiss President Karin Keller-Sutter attends a press conference following a meeting with U.S. officials on tariffs in Geneva on May 9.
SHADOW GOVERNMENT:
The End of Development
The West’s aid model was always a mirage. It’s time for a realistic alternative.
Why the World Turned on NGOs
From powerbrokers in the ’90s to pariahs today.
FP Live Events
Join in-depth conversations and interact with foreign-policy experts. Upcoming Past Insider Access About
How Critical Minerals Drive Trump’s Foreign Policy
It’s becoming clear that U.S. President Donald Trump is keen to break China’s monopoly on critical minerals. One can trace this thread through the... READ MORE
Subscribers’ Picks
The Deathonomics of Putin’s War
“Black widows” marrying soldiers to collect death benefits are symptomatic of society-wide rot.
Has China’s Power Peaked in Asia?
Beijing finds itself in a precarious geopolitical position. 
Why Is Washington Acting Like a Revisionist Power?
The U.S. made a global order that it’s now obsessed with overthrowing.
Tehran’s Residents Are Panicking as Taps Run Dry
Years of drought and neglect have left the city nearly unsustainable.
COLLECTIONS:
A Pair of Haunting New Scandinavian Novels
Plus, more international fiction releases.
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The book cover for Nile Nightshade by Anny Gaul -
Three book covers.
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The book Great Power Diplomacy by A. Wess Mitchell atop a stack of books behind a black paper tear. -
This article has been adapted from How the United States Would Fight China: The Risks of Pursuing a Rapid Victory by Franz-Stefan Gady (Oxford University Press, 256 pp., $34.99, November 2025). -
The book cover for A Guardian and a Thief
In Case You Missed It
A selection of paywall-free articles
Four Explanatory Models for Trump’s Chaos
It’s clear that the second Trump administration is aiming for change—not inertia—in U.S. foreign policy.
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A seated man wearing glasses and a suit. -
An illustration shows a golden Cybertruck blasting through a U.S. seal of an eagle holding arrows and laurel.
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An illustration shows a line of large shopping carts facing down a small Donald Trump figure holding two shopping bags. The stars of China's flag are in the upper left corner. -
Soldiers from various NATO allies take part in a military exercise at the Smardan Training Area in Smardan, Romania, on Feb. 19. -
An illustrations shows the silhouette of Donald Trump with a face filled with pricetags.
Visual Stories
On Syria’s Coast, Alawite Communities Wait for Justice
Rights advocates say the lack of accountability for massacres in March could have profound consequences.
From Berlin to Baghdad on the Ruins of a WWI Railway
The unfinished line traces a fractured region still beset by competing imperial projects.
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