Excerpt
List of Excerpt articles
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Black smoke feels the scene behind statues draped with the Ukrainina flag as a mob of protesters surrounds the statues. The Stubborn Legend of a Western ‘Coup’ in Ukraine
Ten years on, there is still confusion over what, exactly, transpired on the last days of the Maidan.
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Chinese President Xi Jinping speaks at an event in San Francisco on Nov. 15, 2023. The Rise and Fall of the Economic Pivot to Asia
Washington has switched from economic offense to defense.
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The wind blows a plastic bag past the National Stadium, also known as the Bird's Nest, in Beijing on Jan. 23, 2008. The Olympics Have a Dirty History—Literally
But a green sports movement is pushing for change, eager to see if Paris will be different.
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A protestor is seen outside the U.S. Capitol holding an American flag, surrounded by smoke. America’s Democracy Was Never That Healthy
Since its founding, the country has been in a perpetual state of division.
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An oil painting of Whitehaven, England. The British Countryside’s Forgotten History of Slavery
Britons tend to downplay the empire’s slave-trading history. But its links to Virginia tobacco are all over the landscape.
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A U.S. solderi holding a gun and wearing a helmet provides cover for other soldiers seen behind him out of focus. The U.S. Needs a New Purpose in the Middle East
It’s time to ditch both romantic ideals of remaking the region and the policy of retrenchment.
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An aerial photo shows shipping containers stacked at the Port of Ningbo-Zhoushan in Ningbo, China. Democracy Needs an Economic NATO
Fighting Chinese coercion requires new alliances.
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Following increased Chinese military exercises near the island, flares are fired during a Taiwanese military live-fire drill in Pingtung, Taiwan. China and the U.S. Are Numb to the Real Risk of War
The pair are dangerously close to the edge of nuclear war over Taiwan—again.
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A Ukrainian serviceman wearing combat fatigues is seen from the waist up as he stands on a grassy field. His arms are crossed over a rifle that he holds against his chest, and a Christian rosary with white and purple beads hangs from the neck of the rifle. The Divine Marketplace Is Pretty Crowded
Religions aren’t just spiritual communities. They’re also businesses.
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German chambermaids watch as Duke Ellington and dancer Marianne Lutz-Pastre rehearse a number on the terrace of the Frankfurter Hof Hotel in Germany. Duke Ellington, the Jazz Legend Who Became a Diplomat
The band leader broke new ground in U.S. cultural diplomacy even as he faced racism at home.
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Four exhaust pipe towers from a gas pipeline station release smoke into the twilight sky. How Globalization Rose and Fell With Nord Stream
The pipeline bringing Russian gas to Europe was once seen as a triumph for borderless business—but Putin’s invasion of Ukraine put an end to that fantasy.
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Chinese President Xi Jinping waits in front of a painting of the Great Wall at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. Xi’s Imperial Ambitions Are Rooted in China’s History
Myths of peacefulness belie a record as expansionist as any other power.
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A historic image of four businessmen at a table with basketballs. How ‘Made in China’ Became American Gospel
The canny marketing of imports from vodka to basketballs transformed the U.S.-China trade relationship.
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Children play near a large screen showing images of Chinese President Xi Jinping. China’s Secret to Controlling the Internet
The CCP uses manpower, not just technology, to limit speech.
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John Ackah Blay-Miezah smokes a cigar in the London office of the Oman Ghana Trust Fund in the 1980s. The Man Who Conned the World
How one of the greatest scam artists of all time used Ghana’s colonial past to get rich.
