Argument
An expert’s point of view on a current event.
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Workers line up to sing communist "red" songs at an instant noodle factory run by Nanjie village in China's central Henan province. Chinese Firms Can’t Avoid Being Party Tools
The sale of British Steel is a dangerous foothold for Chinese Communist Party power in the U.K.
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U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley hold a news conference at the Pentagon on Oct. 28. The United States Can’t Have It All
The debacle over Syria shows that neither party understands the country’s real goals in the Middle East—or what it would take to achieve them.
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A picture on display shows a Nike missile at one of the facilities that were used to store and potentially launch both conventional and nuclear-tipped Nike missiles in reaction to any Russian attack in Florida on April 8, 2010. The United States’ Nuclear and Non-Nuclear Weapons Are Dangerously Entangled
New evidence from the Yom Kippur War shows how such knots can lead to nuclear annihilation.
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An Iranian woman walks past a new mural painted on the walls of the former U.S. Embassy in Tehran Tehran Paints Over Its Anti-American Murals
The city’s old public art showed a United States to be feared. The new ones depict a country that is weaker, more laughable, and riddled with its own problems.
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A shaman is pictured behind a fire during a traditional Slavic holiday celebration in the Kalugskaya region of Russia on June 22, 2008. The Anti-Putin Shaman’s Magical Mystery Tour
Alexander Gabyshev vowed to drive the “demon Putin” out of Russia through an exorcism. Here’s why Moscow took the threat seriously.
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South Sudan's President Salva Kiir arrives at Juba international airpor South Sudan’s Proposed Unity Government Is Still Divided
Another delay won’t help achieve lasting peace. What the world’s youngest country needs is an exit strategy for its old-guard leaders.
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Members of the Myanmar military march in formation during a parade to mark the country's 74th Armed Forces Day in Naypyidaw on March 27. Myanmar’s Military Is Only Hurting Itself
As the U.N. warns of a continuing risk of genocide, Myanmar should seriously consider the last 30 years and ask if its security policies are helping anyone at all.
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Five cloned macaques at a Chinese research institution China’s Biotech Boom Could Transform Lives—or Destroy Them
Washington and Beijing have a shared interest in making sure new technology stays within limits.
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U.S. President Donald Trump Meets North Korean leader Kim Jung Un Trump Is More Vulnerable Than Ever to Kim Jong Un’s Nuclear Extortion
Trump’s growing impulsiveness and unilateral decision-making may signal to Kim that he can get precisely what he wants.
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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan Erdogan Wants to Redraw the Middle East’s Ethnic Map
Turkey’s plans in Syria are part of a long and dark history of population transfer stretching back to the Ottoman era.
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A demonstrator waves a Chilean flag at a barricade during a protest against the government's economic policies in Santiago on Oct. 29. Latin America’s Protests Are Likely to Fail
The popular uprisings in Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, and Haiti have many different causes and one thing in common: If history is any indicator, the outlook for genuine, lasting change is grim.
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Jawar Mohammed, a member of the Oromo ethnic group who has been a public critic of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, addresses supporters outside his home in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, on Oct. 24, a day after his supporters took to the streets, burning tires and blocking roads following rumors of Jawar's mistreatment by security forces. Ethiopia Will Explode if It Doesn’t Move Beyond Ethnic-Based Politics
Oromo nationalism helped bring Abiy Ahmed to power, but it could also be his undoing. To hold the country together, the Nobel-winning prime minister needs to convince various ethnic groups that he and his new party represent all Ethiopians.
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People from East Germany greet citizens of West Germany at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin on Dec. 22, 1989, after the fall of the Berlin Wall the month before. We Weren’t Ready for a World Without Walls
The fall of the Berlin Wall 30 years ago was a giddy moment, but the subsequent rush to tear down walls everywhere has yielded a global system in which bad actors are no longer held accountable.
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Smoke rises from an Israeli army post blown away by army engineers near the town of Zarit on the Israeli-Lebanese border on May 16, 2000, as part of the preparation for an Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon. Israel’s Occupation of Lebanon Failed. Turkey’s Invasion of Syria Probably Will, Too.
Safe zones rarely bring security benefits, and the Turkish incursion in northern Syria risks ending the same way as Israel’s disastrous occupation of southern Lebanon.
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Hundreds of supporters raise their arms and wave the national flag while waiting to greet the Cameroonian opposition leader Maurice Kamto in Yaoundé on Oct. 5, the day of his release from prison. Trump Must Put Real Pressure on Cameroon
Symbolic half-measures like revoking preferential trade status are not enough to force the repressive regime of Paul Biya to change. Canceling IMF loans and military aid would show that the White House is serious.
