List of Objects of the Global Moment articles
Objects of the Global Moment
Ordinary artifacts at the center of foreign policy.
Everyday objects are often at the center of the events we cover in Foreign Policy but rarely the subject of the coverage themselves. This new feature is an overdue corrective. By focusing attention on the ordinary artifacts that regularly appear in global news coverage, we hope to acknowledge the ways they give meaning—through their design, their history, and their layers of symbolic associations—to our collective social life in the first place.
The Shape-Shifting MAGA Hat
From an expression of intransigence to a symbol of triumph.
How the Bulldozer Became a Symbol of Modi’s India
Is it a protector of Hindu identity or a tool for extrajudicial violence?
Politics Is TikTok’s Newest Dance Move
The controversial social media app is defining the 2024 election. 
Let There Be Microchips
The semiconductor and its near-divine creation story.
It’s Not a Barbie World
Why the American doll never made it abroad.
Aviators Make Biden an All-American Badass
The sunglasses are a symbol of loyalty, persistence—and the U.S. president.
A Tank by Any Other Name
The naming conventions vary—but the strength and speed remain the same.
Face Masks Are Our COVID-19 Memorial
America’s remaining maskers are a living emblem of a lost war.