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Looking for someplace special to spend the Fourth of July? FP investigates five fabulous destinations where a summer getaway is next to impossible.

During the Vietnam War, tiny Laos became the most bombed country on Earth. Three decades later, its people are still living with the bombs left behind.

Why are oil prices soaring so high, and will they ever return to Earth? Fatih Birol, chief economist at the International Energy Agency in Paris, explains why peak oil is real, why biofuels are indispensable, and how China determines what you pay at the pump.

In the current issue of FP, Swiss journalist Serge Michel gave readers a firsthand look at what happens when a superpower hopeful meets the poverty, corruption, and fragility of Africa. Now, he’s answering your questions about the West’s reaction to a global power from the East, what young Africans think of their new patron, and the future of China in Africa.

Thousands of Chinese children died in the Sichuan earthquake when poorly constructed schools collapsed on top of them. Now, grief-stricken parents are demanding a reckoning.

Why do some countries succeed when others struggle? That’s what Nobel laureate A. Michael Spence and the Commission on Growth and Development set out to discover in their landmark study of the world’s 13 fastest-growing economies.

My fellow economists are manning the barricades to defend free trade from a growing public backlash. But with globalization increasingly seen as a threat, our arguments are falling on deaf ears. Maybe it’s time to stop claiming we know what is best for everyone?

Women continue to have second-class status in many parts of the world, with little access to healthcare, education, or basic freedoms. In this week’s List, FP breaks down the countries where being born female can be a cruel fate.

Islamabad is about to cut another deal with the country’s tribal leaders. These agreements rarely last long and appear to have helped no one besides terrorists and hardened militants. But Washington should support the deal making—at least for a little longer.

When he was elected president of Peru in 2001, Alejandro Toledo became the first person of mixed Latino and Indian blood in 500 years to serve as the country’s political leader. Toledo started life so poor that he sold cigarettes and shined shoes on the streets to support his family and pay for his education. Today, he has made reducing poverty and inequality his fight.

Fighting transnational terrorism often involves making unsavory choices between protecting civil rights and providing security. The following regimes have opted for the latter and are definitely not the kind of places you want to get caught if you’re plotting some terrorist mayhem.