Smokes come out of the Pentagon.

How the United States Terrorized Itself

“Reign of Terror” is an important, heated look at America’s post-9/11 wars.

U.S. Army 3rd Division Bradley fighting vehicles take up their position.

How the U.S. Got 9/11 Wrong

The lone superpower inadvertently taught the rest of the world how to fight it—and win.

911-changed-america-chasm-alex-nabaum-illustration

Did 9/11 Change the United States?

We asked seven of our contributors what’s different after 20 years.

Leaving Afghanistan

What happens to the country and its people after the forever war ends?

Shadow Government

A front-row seat to the Republicans’ debate over foreign policy, including their critique of the Biden administration.

Aung San Suu Kyi meets Xi Jinping.

China Is Hedging Its Bets in Myanmar

Beijing thinks the junta will win—but it’s not sure.

Antony Blinken, U.S. secretary of state, speaks with Representative Gregory Meeks, a Democrat from New York, and chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, after the conclusion of a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Wednesday, March 10, 2021.

U.S. Congress Weighs Sanctions on Myanmar’s Oil and Gas

The legislation could also force a ruling on whether the military junta committed genocide against the Rohingya.

A trawling boat passes the shore in Hong Kong.

China Is Disrupting the Ocean’s Blue Carbon Sink

Washington and Beijing need to protect the global seabed—and address the staggering loophole in greenhouse gas reporting.

Guinean President Alpha Condé shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping before their bilateral meeting in Beijing on Sept. 1, 2018.

China Is OK With Interfering in Guinea’s Internal Affairs

Beijing has dropped its own usual excuse to oppose a coup for practical reasons.

Ralph Madonia from the Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue Hazardous Materials Response Team secures his Bio Hazard suit October 15, 2001 as he responds to a report of a powdery substance found in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.

The Forgotten Biological Terror of 9/11

A new type of fear gripped the United States 20 years ago—and never stopped spreading.

WHO chief Tedros briefs media on COVID-19.

Biden Must Move Fast to Replace WHO’s Tedros

It will take an all-out diplomatic blitz to block the director-general’s impending reelection.

In the Magazine

In the Magazine

Angela Merkel

The Other Side of Angela Merkel

What the world has misunderstood about the German chancellor.

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The Bidenomics Revolution

If he succeeds, the president will cast 40 years of economic doctrine on history’s ash heap. But that’s a big if.

Age and the Agbayas

One word perfectly captures the clash between Nigeria’s leaders and its booming young population.

Kayakers on a flooded interstate in Philadelphia

There’s No Wake-Up Moment on Climate in America

Even as disasters strike daily, politics will keep obstructing solutions.

Traffic gridlock in Abuja, Nigeria

Poor People Weren’t Part of the Plan for Abuja

In Nigeria’s carefully designed capital, urban enforcers harass ordinary citizens.

South Koreans walk past replicas of missiles at the Korean War Memorial.

Talk of a Nuclear Deterrent in South Korea

North Korea’s resumed activity at Yongbyon has reawakened calls for Seoul to go nuclear.

A military transport plane takes off in Kabul.

The Falling Man of Kabul

Zaki Anwari represented what a free Afghanistan could achieve. His gruesome death is a vivid reminder of the human toll of U.S. abandonment.

Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya addresses the U.N. Security Council from her office in Vilnius, Lithuania, on Sept. 4, 2020.

Belarus’s Unlikely New Leader

Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya didn’t set out to challenge a brutal dictatorship.

A wildfire which engulfing a Mediterranean resort region on Turkey's southern coast near the town of Manavgat, on July 30, 2021.

The Middle East Is Becoming Literally Uninhabitable

One of the regions hardest hit by climate change is also one least equipped to deal with it.

Peacekeepers go on patrol

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.