5 Top Reads
List of 5 Top Reads articles
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Kamala Harris is silhouetted against a cloudy sky at sunset as she walks up the steps of a plane. How Foreign Policy Shaped the 2024 U.S. Election
What does Trump’s victory show about how Americans view their place in the world?
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An overhead view of the coal-fired Soma power plant in Manisa, western Turkey. Where Does the Climate Movement Go From Here?
The world is falling behind on its climate targets—but that’s not reason to give up hope.
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A shadow of Donald Trump is seen on the side of an airplane. What 2024 Meant for U.S. Foreign Policy
The American people had a big decision to make this year, but was there ultimately more continuity than change in their choice?
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A woman in colorful clothing and a headscarf carries a bag on her head as she walks with other refugees past a razoer wire fence. From Sudan to the Sahel, War Spreads
Across the continent, existing conflicts are intensifying and dormant rivalries reemerging.
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Two people sit on the steps in front of a red door in Beijing. Above them is the Chinese flag. China Is Still Suffering an Economic Hangover
This year showed that there is no end in sight to the problems that began during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Supporters cheer as newly-elected Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian arrives at the shrine of the Islamic Republic's founder Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in Tehran on July 6. 2024 Was a Year of Angry Elections
A diverse array of countries held national votes this year—but a single storyline stood out.
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A Houthi fighter guards the Galaxy Leader vessel on the Red Sea coast off Hudaydah, Yemen. A Year of War Has Left the Middle East Less Stable
Disorder and instability reign from Gaza to Syria and the Red Sea.
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An illustration shows a semiconductor chip as a table with small figures gathered around it. Around it is an electric grid connecting to data centers. What Are AI’s Rules of the Road?
This year, countries and companies debated how the technology should be regulated.
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A Ukrainian tank crew member of the 68th Jaeger Brigade stands on a Leopard 1A5 tank near Pokrovsk, the eastern Donetsk region, on Dec. 13. How We Got Here in the Russia-Ukraine War
Our must-read articles on the state of the conflict, its impact on the global order, and the chance for peace.
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U.S. President Joe Biden puts his fingers to his eyes with his head bowed and hands clasped in prayer. A folder sits on his lap as he sits in the lower house of the Irish parliament. Biden and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Year
The U.S. president’s foreign-policy strategy came undone in 2023.
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An illustration showing a torn Russian flag and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Is Russia’s Future a Forever War?
The Kremlin is hunkering down, but 2023 showed that its rule is less stable than it wants us to think.
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Four workers in blue hardhats walk past a coal plant. One is smoking a cigarette. 2023 Was Another Record Year for Climate Change
As the world threatens to breach a critical global warming threshold, cooperation still seems to fall short.
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A Palestinian is seen from behind as they look outside through a large broken window. Some shards of fractured glass remain in the frame, but the rest of the opening reveals dark smoke billowing from a dense street of buildings in Gaza City. The sky is otherwise light but hazy. The Year of the Israel-Hamas War
The events of Oct. 7 sparked a conflagration in the Middle East that has reverberated around the world.
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People walk along Shanghai's Bund waterfront with skyscrapers of the Lujiazui financial district in the background. A Grim Year for the Chinese Economy
How the sharp slowdown has impacted young people, the military, and more.
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Smoke plumes billow from a fire at a lumber warehouse in Khartoum. The Year Geopolitical Competition Returned to Africa
From Sudan to Mauritania, regional and global powers are jockeying for position on the continent.
