Voters cast ballots in the Michigan primary election in Detroit on March 10.

America’s Elections Are Under Threat—and Congress Is Being Bypassed

The Trump administration’s decision to scale back briefings on election security needs to be reversed. Here’s how to do it.

People take part in an anti-government rally in the rain in Minsk, Belarus, on Aug. 30.

Lukashenko Unleashed Changes in Belarus That Are Out of His Control

Whatever happens in the ongoing protests, the country’s society is increasingly less governable for a dictator.

Graffiti relating to Xinjiang and Tibet is seen on the pavement during a rally in Hong Kong to show support for the Uighur minority in China on Dec. 22, 2019.

Tibet Was China’s First Laboratory of Repression

Xi Jinping is bringing methods honed in Xinjiang back to the Himalayas.

U.S. Election 2020

U.S. President Donald Trump

The October Surprise Is Already Here

A new upsurge of racial unrest during the RNC could define Trump’s 2020 campaign.

Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, and Joe Biden  greet supporters at a rally on Oct. 12, 2008 in Scranton, Pennsylvania.

Biden Is Getting Ready to Bury Neoliberalism

The potential next Democratic administration is preparing to upend decades of dogma on globalization.

Then-U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speak in Washington.

Pompeo and Haley Position Themselves as the Republican Standard-Bearers After Trump

In a party turning America inward, its brightest stars built their résumés on foreign policy.

Former Vice President Joe Biden speaks during a campaign event in Wilmington, Delaware on July 28.

How the Democrats Stole the Republicans' Turf

In speaking for all Americans—instead of just a section of them—Biden's team has rejected the conventional narrative about how to beat Trump in November.

Then-Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn arrives at Trafalgar Square to speak at an anti-war rally in London on Jan. 11.

How to Lose an Election on Foreign Policy

Jeremy Corbyn’s blunders over Russian poisoning were critical to his polling collapse.

An Israeli F-35I fighter jet takes part in a multinational air defense exercise at the Ovda Air Force Base, north of the Israeli city of Eilat, on Nov. 11, 2019.

Peace for Warplanes?

How a dispute over an arms deal complicates normalization between Israel and the UAE.

This photo from June 19 shows an image of Iliass Tahiri (left) and his brother and a video still capturing the death of Iliass. Iliass Tahiri, 18, died on July 1, 2019, at the Tierras de Oria detention center in southern Almeria province, Spain.

Deadly Restraints Are a Stain on the EU

The continued use of lethal restraints in law enforcement, as in the case of Iliass Tahiri in Spain, damages the bloc’s human rights advocacy around the world.

People pass by as Japan’s Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, is displayed on a giant television screen during a press conference in Tokyo on Aug. 28.

The Abe Era Ends, Cheering China, Concerning Washington

The United States hasn’t had to worry about Japan in nearly a decade. Now it might have to start.

French President Emmanuel Macron walks into a room with a relief bust of the French author and philosopher Voltaire during a visit to the newly restored Château de Voltaire à Ferney in eastern France, on May 31, 2018.

Voltaire Spread Darkness, Not Enlightenment. France Should Stop Worshipping Him.

The celebrated philosopher was an unapologetic racist and anti-Semite. The recent removal of his statue in Paris was long overdue.

A Pakistan Army personnel looks on during the opening of a trade route project at the Gwadar port in Pakistan on Nov. 13, 2016.

The Pakistan Army’s Belt and Road Putsch

The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor is growing—and so is the role of the Pakistan Army.

Protesters march on the street chanting and carrying anti-China slogans on Nov. 20, 2018 in Makati, Philippines.

Southeast Asia is Ground Zero in the New U.S.-China Conflict—and Beijing Is Winning

‘Under Beijing’s Shadow’ lays out in compelling detail how China is working to dominate the region.

Iranian Shiite Muslims adhere to social distancing due to the COVID-19 pandemic as they attend a mourning ritual to commemorate the Prophet Muhammad's grandson Imam Hussein during the Islamic month of Muharram in advance of the Ashura religious holiday.

Why COVID-19 Is Ravaging Iran Again

Poor governance, disinformation, censorship, and punishing U.S. sanctions have turned a crisis into a disaster.

Members of the Million Women Rise activist group

Britain’s Domestic Abuse Bill Still Leaves Migrants at Risk

Boris Johnson’s government has rejected amendments to the landmark legislation that would ensure support for some of the country’s most marginalized women.

Revelers take part in a Gay Pride Parade in front of policemen in Panama City on June 29, 2019.

Transgender and Trapped in Sex-Based Social Distancing

Panama came up with a novel—and uniquely discriminatory—public health measure to combat the coronavirus.

Indian Supreme Court lawyer and anti-corruption activist Prashant Bhushan gestures as he speaks during a public talk.

Cracking Down on Activists for Their Tweets Isn’t New

The lawyer Prashant Bhushan’s arrest and detention for posting tweets critical of the Indian government is part of a wider global trend.

Voices

United States Postal Service mail carrier Frank Colon, 59, delivers mail amid the coronavirus pandemic on April 30, 2020 in El Paso, Texas.

The U.S. Postal Service Is a Threat to Your Life

Disruptions of mail aren’t just a problem for the election—they’re a danger to millions of American lives.

Steam rises from the chimneys of a coal-fired power plant in Roggendorf, Germany, on Nov. 8, 2019.

Yes, We Can Get Rid of the World’s Dirtiest Fuel

Signs of coal’s demise are everywhere, but the world needs a better plan to phase out thousands of coal power plants still in use.

A pilot arrives at Heathrow airport in London on June 8.

The World Needs to Reopen Borders Before It’s Too Late

Even as they struggle to control the pandemic, governments should move quickly to reopen borders instead of giving in to xenophobia, nationalism, and illusions of autarky.

Crown Prince Haakon of Norway and his wife Crown Princess Mette-Marit look at an artic map of the world with the museum official Kasia Majewski at the Canadian Museum of Nature in Ottawa, Ontario, Nov. 7, 2016.

All Great-Power Politics Is Local

When it comes to building international power, there’s growing reason to think that foreign policy barely matters.

In the Magazine

In the Magazine

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Crises Only Sometimes Lead to Change. Here’s Why.

The coronavirus pandemic won’t automatically lead to reforms. Great upheavals only bring systemic change when reformers have a plan—and the power to implement it.

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A Portrait of India on Fire

Megha Majumdar’s bestselling novel “A Burning” begins with a train in flames. But what really gets torched is the Indian Dream.

Welcome to the Post-Leader World

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

Welcome Back to Kissinger’s World

Neoconservatism has died, and liberal internationalism is discredited. Perhaps it’s time to return to the ideas of one of the last century’s greatest realists.

A FOCUS ON RACE AND FOREIGN POLICY

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Why Is Mainstream International Relations Blind to Racism?

Ignoring the central role of race and colonialism in world affairs precludes an accurate understanding of the modern state system.

Black Lives Matter Protest London

When Did Racism Become Solely a Domestic Issue?

International relations theorists once explored racism. What has the field lost by giving that up?

People walk down 16th Street in Washington after volunteers painted "Black Lives Matter" on the street near the White House on June 5.

Seeing Race In a Pandemic

How the physical environment affects our experience of difference.

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Why Race Matters in International Relations

Western dominance and white privilege permeate the field. It’s time to change that.

Special insights on the post-pandemic world

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Culture Shock

Eight leading voices from a sector that has been devastated like no other.

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The Future of Travel

Seven predictions for how tourism will change.

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Urban Life Transformed

Twelve experts on planning, policy, history, and health predict the future of cities.

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The Future of the State

Ten leading global thinkers on government after the pandemic.

visual stories

A man scoops leaked oil from the vessel MV Wakashio near Blue Bay Marine Park off the coast of southeast Mauritius on Aug. 8. The ship hit a coral reef off the Indian Ocean island and ran aground two weeks prior, spilling about 1,000 tons of oil. JEAN AURELIO PRUDENCE/L’Express Maurice/AFP via Getty Images

The Month in World Photos

August brought a massive oil spill in the Indian Ocean and a disputed election in Belarus—plus fierce storms, wildfires, coronavirus chaos, a military coup in Mali, and a devastating explosion in Beirut.

Freelance jade miners rush past a line of company trucks during a two-hour break at a government-licensed jade mining site, when they are allowed to search through discarded tailings but must turn over larger stones to the mining company, in Hpakant on May 17, 2019.

After Another Mining Disaster, Ethnic Minorities Lose Patience With Myanmar’s Leadership

For those in the borderlands, the recent landslide in Kachin state is a symptom of the government’s empty promises.