What We’re Reading

Erica Alini The Economist’s special report on Iran proves that you can find compelling evidence to argue anything you want about the the Islamic Republic. Preeti Aroon EnglishRussia.com Russian Cathedral for All Religions, on the English Russia blog. In a dream, Jesus Christ appeared before a Russian architect and healer and told him to build ...

600265_070731_russia_05.jpg
600265_070731_russia_05.jpg

Erica Alini

Erica Alini

  • The Economist’s special report on Iran proves that you can find compelling evidence to argue anything you want about the the Islamic Republic.

Preeti Aroon

  • EnglishRussia.com

    Russian Cathedral for All Religions, on the English Russia blog. In a dream, Jesus Christ appeared before a Russian architect and healer and told him to build a cathedral to unify people of different religions. The result: a multicolored structure that seems to combine St. Basil’s Cathedral, Gaudí’s architectural style, and, well, Candyland.

Mike Boyer

  • Tonight on Dateline This Man Will Die, by Luke Dittrich in Esquire. In a small Texas town, Chris Hansen and Dateline’s “To Catch A Predator” dispense a little justice, Hollywood-style.

Christine Chen

  • At War, At Home, At Risk, by Ayub Nuri, New York Times Magazine, July 29, 2007.  A 28-year-old Iraqi journalist writes about how he became a “fixer” for Western news organizations—first helping to arrange interviews and translate, then reporting on his own, each time putting his life on the line to tell the stories of his war-torn country.

Blake Hounshell

  • Somebody Else. Have you ever wanted to disappear? Charles Nicholl reconstructs the lost years of Arthur Rimbaud, the  poetry prodigy who left France at the age of 25 to become a qat and weapons trader in Harar, Ethiopia.

More from Foreign Policy

An illustration shows the Statue of Liberty holding a torch with other hands alongside hers as she lifts the flame, also resembling laurel, into place on the edge of the United Nations laurel logo.
An illustration shows the Statue of Liberty holding a torch with other hands alongside hers as she lifts the flame, also resembling laurel, into place on the edge of the United Nations laurel logo.

A New Multilateralism

How the United States can rejuvenate the global institutions it created.

A view from the cockpit shows backlit control panels and two pilots inside a KC-130J aerial refueler en route from Williamtown to Darwin as the sun sets on the horizon.
A view from the cockpit shows backlit control panels and two pilots inside a KC-130J aerial refueler en route from Williamtown to Darwin as the sun sets on the horizon.

America Prepares for a Pacific War With China It Doesn’t Want

Embedded with U.S. forces in the Pacific, I saw the dilemmas of deterrence firsthand.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, seen in a suit and tie and in profile, walks outside the venue at the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation. Behind him is a sculptural tree in a larger planter that appears to be leaning away from him.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, seen in a suit and tie and in profile, walks outside the venue at the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation. Behind him is a sculptural tree in a larger planter that appears to be leaning away from him.

The Endless Frustration of Chinese Diplomacy

Beijing’s representatives are always scared they could be the next to vanish.

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan welcomes Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammed bin Salman during an official ceremony at the Presidential Complex in Ankara, on June 22, 2022.
Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan welcomes Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammed bin Salman during an official ceremony at the Presidential Complex in Ankara, on June 22, 2022.

The End of America’s Middle East

The region’s four major countries have all forfeited Washington’s trust.