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FALL 2023 ISSUE: The Alliances That Matter Now

Primary featured article section

Biden and Mohammed bin Salman walk next to each other.
Biden and Mohammed bin Salman walk next to each other.

The U.S. Should Ask for More From Saudi Arabia

Riyadh wants big concessions from Washington in exchange for normalizing ties with Israel. Biden should ask for big concessions in return.

Argument
Steven Simon, Aaron David Miller
U.S. President Joe Biden looks at a quantum computer as he tours the IBM facility in Poughkeepsie, New York, on Oct. 6, 2022.
U.S. President Joe Biden looks at a quantum computer as he tours the IBM facility in Poughkeepsie, New York, on Oct. 6, 2022.

The Quantum Chips Are Stacking Up

Why it matters, and how worried we should be about it.

Explainer
Rishi Iyengar
A woman walks past a building damaged in a drone attack in Moscow on Aug. 23.
A woman walks past a building damaged in a drone attack in Moscow on Aug. 23.

Are Ukraine’s Airstrikes in Russia Effective?

The attacks hinder Russian warfighting, but Ukrainian leaders probably seek a more strategic impact.

Analysis
Daniel Byman
Babar Azam of Pakistan plays a shot during the 2023 ICC Men's Cricket World Cup warmup match between Pakistan and Australia at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad, India.
Babar Azam of Pakistan plays a shot during the 2023 ICC Men's Cricket World Cup warmup match between Pakistan and Australia at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad, India.

How Cricket Is Easing India-Pakistan Tensions

Pakistani cricketers arrive in India for the first time in seven years—but they almost didn’t make it.

South Asia Brief
Michael Kugelman

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U.S. President Joe Biden, center, is welcomed by United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain, left, and U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell, second from left, on arrival at Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport in Romulus, Michigan.
U.S. President Joe Biden, center, is welcomed by United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain, left, and U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell, second from left, on arrival at Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport in Romulus, Michigan.

A President on the Picket Line?
Insider
Adam Tooze, Cameron Abadi
Protesters in masks in front of the Bank of England in London on Aug. 3. Daniel Leal/AFP via Getty Images
Protesters in masks in front of the Bank of England in London on Aug. 3. Daniel Leal/AFP via Getty Images

Why Interest Rate Hikes Don’t Necessarily Tame Inflation
Insider
Adam Tooze, Cameron Abadi
Head of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Samantha Power stands in front of St Michael's Golden-Domed Monastery in Kyiv, on October 6, 2022.
Head of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Samantha Power stands in front of St Michael's Golden-Domed Monastery in Kyiv, on October 6, 2022.

Samantha Power on America’s Development Diplomacy
Insider
Ravi Agrawal

Asia & the Pacific

Afghans protest against the burning of the Quran by Swedish Danish far-right politician Rasmus Paludan outside Eid Gah mosque in Kabul on Jan. 27.
Afghans protest against the burning of the Quran by Swedish Danish far-right politician Rasmus Paludan outside Eid Gah mosque in Kabul on Jan. 27.

Attention-Seekers and Autocrats Are a Combustible Mix
Argument
Elisabeth Braw

Why the Iraq War AUMF Is Still Dangerous

The U.S. Shouldn’t Worry About the India-Canada Rift

Washington Is Losing Credibility Over the Canada-India Spat

China

Alternative for Germany member Maximilian Krah gestures during an interview in Magdeburg, Germany.
Alternative for Germany member Maximilian Krah gestures during an interview in Magdeburg, Germany.

China Finds Friends in Europe’s Far Right
China Brief
James Palmer

China’s United Front Operations Are Ubiquitous—at Home

As China’s Property Sector Crumbles, Who Takes the Fall?

Cultural Decoupling From China Is Not the Answer

Middle East & Africa

Children play at the Adre refugee camp, where around 200,000 people (including many displaced by the conflict in Sudan) are currently taking refuge, in Chad on Sept. 19. Photo by Abdulmonam Eassa/Getty Images
Children play at the Adre refugee camp, where around 200,000 people (including many displaced by the conflict in Sudan) are currently taking refuge, in Chad on Sept. 19. Photo by Abdulmonam Eassa/Getty Images

U.S. Fears Sudan’s War Will Worsen Humanitarian Crisis
Report
Jack Detsch

Eastern Libya’s Rulers Crack Down on Protests—Not Shoddy Infrastructure

Iran Is Exploiting Divisions and U.S. Inaction in Iraqi Kurdistan

Nigeria’s Unhappy Birthday

Europe

Members of the GIL (Italian Youth of the Lictor) help farmers during the wheat threshing in Italy.
Members of the GIL (Italian Youth of the Lictor) help farmers during the wheat threshing in Italy.

The Great Turn Inward
Review
Jan-Werner Müller

Which Countries Walk the Walk on Migrant Rights?

The EU Is Letting Hungary and Poland Erode Democracy

North Korea’s Shell Game Is Not a Game-Changer, Pentagon Says

Americas

Hand-painted wooden nesting dolls stand on a table. Two are painted with an image of U.S. President Joe Biden, shown from the torso upward, wearing a black suit and smiling against an American flag background. Next to these is a doll painted with the image of Chinese President Xi Jinping, who smiles against a Chinese flag background.
Hand-painted wooden nesting dolls stand on a table. Two are painted with an image of U.S. President Joe Biden, shown from the torso upward, wearing a black suit and smiling against an American flag background. Next to these is a doll painted with the image of Chinese President Xi Jinping, who smiles against a Chinese flag background.

The U.S. Cannot Afford to Lose a Soft-Power Race With China
Analysis
Raja Krishnamoorthi

South America’s Scorching Spring Has Arrived

Green Hydrogen Isn’t a Silver Bullet 

How the U.S. Created Its Own Reality

weekend reads

Mustafa Nayyem, head of the Ukrainian State Agency for Restoration and Infrastructure Development, speaks at an event before the Ukraine Recovery Conference in London.
Mustafa Nayyem, head of the Ukrainian State Agency for Restoration and Infrastructure Development, speaks at an event before the Ukraine Recovery Conference in London.

‘We Don’t Want to Lose Our Second Motherland’

Mustafa Nayyem fights to rebuild Ukraine.

Profile
Luke Johnson
A Palestinian man carries his child to cross a roadblock in the West Bank city of Hebron in 2003. Rubble fills the land he walks across and barbed wire coils in front of him. A woman with a head covering follows behind them.
A Palestinian man carries his child to cross a roadblock in the West Bank city of Hebron in 2003. Rubble fills the land he walks across and barbed wire coils in front of him. A woman with a head covering follows behind them.

All the Palestinians Got From Oslo Was KFC
Essay
Dalia Hatuqa
A collage of Chinese President Xi Jinping, the CCP Party Congress, and academia and industry.
A collage of Chinese President Xi Jinping, the CCP Party Congress, and academia and industry.

Will China’s Elite Ever Rise Up?
Flash Points
FP Contributors
A woman is silhouetted as she walks down stairs past a communist-era stained glass panel in Berlin on April 26, 2019. The early-1960s work depicts images of industry, technology, agriculture, the military, youth, family, and the working class common in socialist art of the communist bloc.
A woman is silhouetted as she walks down stairs past a communist-era stained glass panel in Berlin on April 26, 2019. The early-1960s work depicts images of industry, technology, agriculture, the military, youth, family, and the working class common in socialist art of the communist bloc.

A Tale of Two Germanies
Review
Allison Meakem

Subscribers’ Picks

A photo collage illustration shows U.S. political figures plotted on a foreign-policy spectrum from most assertive to least. From left: Dick Cheney, Nikki Haley, Joe Biden, George H.W. Bush, Ron Desantis, Barack Obama, Donald Trump, Vivek Ramaswamy, and Bernie Sanders.
A photo collage illustration shows U.S. political figures plotted on a foreign-policy spectrum from most assertive to least. From left: Dick Cheney, Nikki Haley, Joe Biden, George H.W. Bush, Ron Desantis, Barack Obama, Donald Trump, Vivek Ramaswamy, and Bernie Sanders.

The Scrambled Spectrum of U.S. Foreign-Policy Thinking

Presidents, officials, and candidates tend to fall into six camps that don’t follow party lines.

Analysis
Ash Jain
A girl touches a photograph of her relative on the Memory Wall of Fallen Defenders of Ukraine in the Russian-Ukrainian war in Kyiv.
A girl touches a photograph of her relative on the Memory Wall of Fallen Defenders of Ukraine in the Russian-Ukrainian war in Kyiv.

What Does Victory Look Like in Ukraine?

Ukrainians differ on what would keep their nation safe from Russia.

Argument
Kathleen J. McInnis
A man is seen in profile standing several yards away from a prison.
A man is seen in profile standing several yards away from a prison.

The Biden Administration Is Dangerously Downplaying the Global Terrorism Threat

Today, there are more terror groups in existence, in more countries around the world, and with more territory under their control than ever before.

Analysis
Charles Lister
Then-Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Menendez arrives for a closed-door briefing by intelligence officials at the U.S. Capitol in Washington.
Then-Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Menendez arrives for a closed-door briefing by intelligence officials at the U.S. Capitol in Washington.

Blue Hawk Down

Sen. Bob Menendez’s indictment will shape the future of Congress’s foreign policy.

Report
Robbie Gramer

FP columnists

in the magazine

Current Issue: Fall 2023 Archives
The cover of Foreign Policy's fall 2023 print magazine shows a jack made up of joined hands lifting up the world. Cover text reads: The Alliances That Matter Now: Multilateralism is at a dead end, but powerful blocs are getting things done."
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.

Essay
Gordon Brown

NATO’s Remarkable Revival

But the bloc’s future could look very different from its past.

Analysis
Jo Inge Bekkevold

The G-7 Becomes a Power Player
Analysis
G. John Ikenberry

The Nimble New Minilaterals
Analysis
C. Raja Mohan

The China-Russia Axis Takes Shape
Analysis
Bonny Lin
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BRC22_Biden-1000x400

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How is Beijing navigating the country’s economic slowdown? How will China’s struggles impact the global economy? Join FP’s Ravi Agrawal in discussion with three experts: Economist Adam Posen;... READ MORE

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Heather Cox Richardson on American Democracy
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Samantha Power on Development Diplomacy
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The White House’s U.N. Agenda
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Inside Taiwan’s Foreign Policy

books

Dozens of people have dinner at a rooftop restaurant at night with the water and lit-up high rises of the Shanghai skyline behind them.
Dozens of people have dinner at a rooftop restaurant at night with the water and lit-up high rises of the Shanghai skyline behind them.

How to Get Chinese Elites to Support Democracy

It may be in their own self-interest.

Excerpt
Yasheng Huang
A worker stands atop a solar panel during construction on the roof of a new development in Wuhan. Buildings can be seen in the background.
A worker stands atop a solar panel during construction on the roof of a new development in Wuhan. Buildings can be seen in the background.

Can the U.S. and China Cooperate on Green Technology Again?
Review
Lili Pike
War on the Ballot: How the Election Cycle Shapes Presidential Decision-Making in War, Andrew Payne, Columbia University Press, 336 pp., $35, July 2023
War on the Ballot: How the Election Cycle Shapes Presidential Decision-Making in War, Andrew Payne, Columbia University Press, 336 pp., $35, July 2023

Why U.S. Presidents Really Go to War
Review
Julian E. Zelizer
The book cover of Homelands by Timothy Garton Ash. A black-and-white photo beneath the title shows an outstretched arm wearing a wristwatch in front of a city street. The title and name of the author are in red, all-caps lettering.
The book cover of Homelands by Timothy Garton Ash. A black-and-white photo beneath the title shows an outstretched arm wearing a wristwatch in front of a city street. The title and name of the author are in red, all-caps lettering.

Timothy Garton Ash Misunderstands Liberalism
Review
Blake Smith
Beijing Rules: How China Weaponized Its Economy to Confront the World, Bethany Allen, HarperCollins (August 2023), $32.99
Beijing Rules: How China Weaponized Its Economy to Confront the World, Bethany Allen, HarperCollins (August 2023), $32.99

How China Trolls Flooded Twitter
Excerpt
Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian
The book cover of This is Not America: Why Black Lives in Britain Matter by Tomiwa Owolade.
The book cover of This is Not America: Why Black Lives in Britain Matter by Tomiwa Owolade.

Britain’s Racism Isn’t America’s
Review
Angela Saini
The Starmer Project: A Journey to the Right, Oliver Eagleton, Verso, 240 pp., $19.95, April 2022
The Starmer Project: A Journey to the Right, Oliver Eagleton, Verso, 240 pp., $19.95, April 2022

What Kind of Prime Minister Will Keir Starmer Be?
Review
Jamie Maxwell

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  5. The U.S. Should Ask for More From Saudi Arabia
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  6. The Quantum Chips Are Stacking Up
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  7. The Biden Administration Is Addicted to Partnerships
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  8. The U.S. Cannot Afford to Lose a Soft-Power Race With China
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  10. The China-Russia Axis Takes Shape
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visual stories

El Hardi kneels next to his dog Rock, amid tangled piles of rubble, water, and some intact buildings, during their search in Derna, Libya.
El Hardi kneels next to his dog Rock, amid tangled piles of rubble, water, and some intact buildings, during their search in Derna, Libya.

‘We’ll Start Digging Here’

Unusually virulent weather and poor infrastructure have brought hell to eastern Libya.

Stefanie Glinski
Charmante Kapinga sits on a chair holding her young son as a nurse prepares to weigh him before a routine vaccination at the Mervedi medical center outside Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Charmante Kapinga sits on a chair holding her young son as a nurse prepares to weigh him before a routine vaccination at the Mervedi medical center outside Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The Shadow of the Next Pandemic Looms in a Virus Hotspot

Low vaccination coverage in the Democratic Republic of the Congo raises the risk of diseases spreading and adapting undetected.

Andrei Popoviciu

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