List of Theory articles
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International Space Station above the Caribbean Sea The World Needs a Space COP
Negotiating a new treaty to manage space seems hopeless, but a workable mechanism exists.
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Starmer and other personnel stand around a circular table, trying out white AI-powered goggles and handheld instruments. The British flag is on bright display on the wall behind them. The Death—and Rebirth—of Science Diplomacy
Once a vehicle for global cooperation, international science has become a high-stakes arena of geopolitical rivalry.
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Two women with long hair are seen in profile with their hair covering their faces. Behind them are the buildings of a city. Iran Has a New Moral Order
The Islamic republic no longer controls the symbolic universe that once anchored its legitimacy.
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Chile's presidential candidate Jose Antonio Kast of the Republican Party waves to supporters during his closing campaign rally in Temuco, Chile on December 11, 2025. What Chile’s New President Means for the World
José Kast’s right-wing agenda has implications far beyond Chile’s borders.
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Chinese national flag is seen in the foreground with container ships, cranes, and stacked shipping containers. What to Make of China’s Trade Surplus
The imbalance raises questions about the global economy and Trump administration policy.
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A drawn illustration of a soccer player with a US dollar sign on the bottom of their show about to kick a globe like a soccer ball. Soccer Still Has Some Explaining to Do
Re-read today, Franklin Foer’s 2004 classic inadvertently suggests where globalization went wrong.
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Guests look at a model of the largest data center in the UAE under construction in Abu Dhabi as the Stargate initiative, a joint venture between G42, Microsoft, and OpenAI, during the Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition & Conference (ADIPEC) in Abu Dhabi on November 3, 2025. (Photo by Giuseppe CACACE / AFP) (Photo by GIUSEPPE CACACE/AFP via Getty Images) The Geopolitics of Sovereign Wealth Funds
Countries like Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates are investing capital right when the world values geopolitical swing states.
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A banner showing an image of U.S. President Donald Trump is seen behind a U.S. flag outside a U.S. Department of Agriculture building in Washington. Trump’s New National Security Strategy Goes Full ‘America First’
The long-anticipated plan aims to selectively impose the U.S. president’s worldview around the globe.
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A video clip of XPeng’s next-generation Iron humanoid robot during AI Day in Guangzhou, China. Tech’s Tarnished Halo
How Silicon Valley’s declining image is dimming America’s light.
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A collage photo illustration showing Xi Jinping casting a long shadow on images representative of innovation: construction, semiconductor manufacturing, and robots, on a red background. Can Chinese Authoritarianism Stay Smart?
Beijing’s continued economic growth depends on a fragile balance of control and freedom.
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India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi waits Abu Dhabi's Crown Prince Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan at the Hyderabad House in New Delhi, India, on Sept. 9. India’s Strategic Autonomy Is Now Reading as Aloof
Why 2025 has been Modi’s most difficult foreign-policy year.
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House Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene leaves after U.S. President Donald Trump addresses a joint session of Congress at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. The Wobbling of King Trump
At home and abroad, his autocratic approach is starting to run aground.
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Four men are standing in front of a display of silver laptops. India’s Fraught Push for Digital Decolonization
Will the dream of indigenous technology be co-opted for political control?
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A book in the background and Donald Trump in the foreground in a photo illustration. How Yesterday’s Fiction Foretells Tomorrow’s Politics
From medieval Europe to the Trump era, life really does imitate art.
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A man plants flowers next to the G-20 logo. It’s Time to Trust the Global South
As Europeans debate who will fill the U.S. role on the world stage, an answer may already be apparent.
