A curated selection of FP’s must-read stories.
Editors' Picks
List of Editors' Picks articles
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An election worker processes a stack of 2024 general election ballots with the tabulation machine in front of observers. How America’s Fourth-Largest County Is Preparing for Election Interference
Maricopa County in Arizona has been a lightning rod for election deniers since 2020. Officials there say they’re prepared this time around.
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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. The Next AI Debate Is About Geopolitics
Data might be the “new oil,” but nations—not nature—will decide where to build data centers.
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Xi Jinping is seen from the side walking past a blue background with a bird. What Will a Post-Xi China Look Like?
Kevin Rudd on the fragility of Xi’s long-term ideological project.
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An illustration shows George Washington peaking out from the opening of a U.S. dollar wearing a skewed crown. How the Dollar Became a Double-Edged Sword
Washington’s hands-off currency policy has produced a dominant dollar—and collateral damage at home and abroad.
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NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte (right) welcomes Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as he arrives for a press conference at the NATO headquarters in Brussels on Oct. 17. A Western Victory Plan for Ukraine
Lofty rhetoric can’t hide the lack of serious thinking about what a credible victory would entail.
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Displaced Sudanese who have returned from Ethiopia gather in a camp run by the United Nations Refugee Agency in Sudan's border town of Gallabat on Sept. 11. How the U.N. Can Prevent Genocide in Sudan
A peacekeeping mission might not be politically feasible, but there are other ways to protect civilians.
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A worker sitting at a desk with several computer monitors is seen from behind and across a room in a facility in Shanghai. Other monitors hang above nearby work desks, and a walkway or scaffolding stretches overhead. A Chinese flag hangs from high up on a nearby wall. America Needs Clear Standards for China Tech Decoupling
A new Washington consensus risks improvised and chaotic policy.
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U.S. President Donald Trump (far right) holds a chart showing military hardware sales as he meets with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington on March 20, 2018. Why the Gulf States Are Likely Backing Trump
Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates see his return to the White House as an opportunity to further bolster their regional ambitions.
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A mural shows the U.S. flag on the side of a building with bombs falling form the red stripes and the words "down the the U.S.A. Barbed wire is in the foreground. Iran Has Every Reason Now to Go Nuclear
Israel’s latest wars are changing Tehran’s strategic calculations.
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Images of Russian President Vladimir Putin are seen near national flags of North Korea and Russia in Pyongyang on June 20. Why North Korea’s Deployment of Troops to Russia Really Matters
Questions abound about the combat quality of Pyongyang’s troops, but they could bail out Moscow and end up alarming Seoul.
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Israeli soldiers sit in the turret of a battle tank along the border between southern Israel and the Gaza Strip on Jan. 31. David Petraeus: Israel Needs to Adapt Its Strategy
The former U.S. general and CIA chief on the importance of rebuilding in Gaza—and lessons for Israel from America’s wars in the Middle East.
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Voters make their selections at voting booths in Hendersonville, North Carolina. U.S. Adversaries Could Stoke Post-Election Unrest, Intel Report Warns
Iran and Russia may seek to foment violence after the vote, according to a newly declassified analysis.
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German Chancellor Olaf Scholz greets U.S. President Joe Biden at the Chancellery on October 18, 2024 in Berlin, Germany. Biden’s Most Special Relationship Was With Germany
Last week’s state visit to Berlin might be the last feel-good transatlantic moment for a while.
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A factory worker stands near car batteries for Xinwangda Electric Vehicle Battery Company in Nanjing, China, on March 12, 2021. How the United States Can Win the Battery Race
To leapfrog China, Washington should shift away from lithium-ion batteries.
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A photo illustration shows five men joining hands and lifting them up as they stand atop a globe with Europe hightlighted. Can BRICS Finally Take On the West?
How an ad hoc gaggle of countries turned themselves into global revolutionaries and why it might yet matter for the West.
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