Dispatch
The view from the ground.
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An Iranian man smokes a water pipe in the southern Iranian city of Chabahar on May 12, 2015. (ATTA KENARE/AFP/Getty Images) Iran Is Losing Its Jihad on Tobacco
The Islamic Republic's anti-smoking campaign is yet another example of the government's shaky control over its population.
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Protests against planned pension reforms in Athens on Feb. 12, 2016. (Milos Bicanski/Getty Images) Never Mind the Troika, Here’s Rouvikonas
Greece’s prolonged austerity has given rise to a movement of middle-class anarchism.
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Alleged Russian soldiers stand outside a Ukrainian military base in Simferopol on March 12, 2014. (Dan Kitwood/Getty Images) Inside a European Center to Combat Russia’s Hybrid Warfare
Western countries are looking for new ways to defend against a new generation of war. Does a center in Finland have the answers?
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U.S. Ambassador to Zimbabwe Harry K. Thomas Jr. in his Harare office on Dec. 7, 2017. (Cynthia Matonhodze for Foreign Policy) An Emissary to Tyranny
Serving as a U.S. diplomat in Zimbabwe is tough. Life for African-American diplomats there is even harder.
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Indian doctors inspect an x-ray photograph at the Ahmedabad Civil Hospital on March 12, 2013. (Sam Panthaky/AFP/Getty Images) India’s Hospitals Are Filling Up With Desperate Americans
Are deep-pocketed medical tourists the cause of, or solution to, India's health care problems?
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Vladimir Snidl in the Denník N newsroom in Bratislava, Slovakia, in December. (Tomáš Benedikovič for Foreign Policy) ‘Fake News’ Fights Back
Russian disinformation. A government attacking the media. A populace deeply skeptical of it. These Slovak journalists had seen it all — and decided to do something about it.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin gestures as he speaks during his annual press conference in Moscow on Dec. 14 (Alexey Druzhinin/AFP/Getty Images) Putin Praises, Defends Trump and Revs Up Own Re-election Bid
In his annual marathon press conference, the Russian president buttered up his American counterpart and cut loose from the party he once led.
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Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi waits for a meeting with John Kerry, then the U.S. secretary of state, in Cairo on Sept. 13, 2014. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images) Egypt’s Civil Society Is on Life Support
Under the guise of fighting a "war on terrorism," Cairo is cracking down on organizations that shed light on its abuses.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin during the opening ceremony of the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics in Russia. (Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images) Putin Uses Olympic Ban to Rally Support for His Presidential Bid
The IOC’s unprecedented ban on Russia for sports doping feeds his narrative of a nation under siege.
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A Russian police officer in Moscow patrols Red Square with the Kremlin in the background on Jan. 7, 2003. (Oleg Nikishin/Getty Images) Donald Trump Has Been Torture for Foreign Correspondents in Russia
The Russia stories everyone wants aren’t the ones people in Russia can provide.
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Young Saudi men listen to a Muslim cleric during a religious course at an Interior Ministry rehabilitation center 50 miles north of Riyadh on Nov. 3, 2007. (Hassan Ammar / Stringer) Saudi Arabia Is Freeing a New Batch of Former Gitmo Detainees
And the Trump administration isn't happy.
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Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman attends a meeting with Lebanon's Christian Maronite patriarch on Nov. 14 in Riyadh. (Fayez Nureldine/AFP/Getty Images) Saudis Are Hoping Mohammed bin Salman Will Drain the Swamp
A road trip among ordinary Saudis revealed high hopes, and hardly any worries, about the country's new political era.
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Hezbollah members reenact an attack on an Israeli tank in the southern Lebanese village of Khiam on Aug. 13, 2017. (Mahmoud Zayyat/AFP/Getty Images) Israel Isn’t Going to Fight Saudi Arabia’s Wars
Don't expect Benjamin Netanyahu to put Israeli soldiers in harm's way in Lebanon on Mohammed bin Salman's say-so.
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Soldiers deployed to the streets of Zimbabwe's capital, Harare, on Nov. 15 as the military appeared to seize control. (AFP/Getty Images) Zimbabwe’s Military Says There’s Nothing to See Here
Robert Mugabe is under house arrest, and the generals are in charge. But the top brass still insist there hasn’t been a coup.
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Senator George Weah greets his supporters during a campaign rally in Monrovia on Oct. 8. (Issouf Sanogo/AFP/Getty Images) A Football God Is About to Become President of Liberia
Former AC Milan striker George Weah is revered in soccer-obsessed West Africa, but can he convince Liberians he’s smart enough for the top job?
