The Magazine

The cover of Foreign Policy's fall 2023 print magazine shows a jack made up of joined hands lifting up the world. Cover text reads: The Alliances That Matter Now: Multilateralism is at a dead end, but powerful blocs are getting things done."
The cover of Foreign Policy's fall 2023 print magazine shows a jack made up of joined hands lifting up the world. Cover text reads: The Alliances That Matter Now: Multilateralism is at a dead end, but powerful blocs are getting things done."

The Magazine

Fall 2023 Editor's Note

The Magazine

Fall 2023 Editor's Note

Features

An illustration depicts flags of the G-7, NATO, China-Russia, and minilateral alliances.
An illustration depicts flags of the G-7, NATO, China-Russia, and minilateral alliances.

The Alliances That Matter Now

Multilateralism is at a dead end, but powerful blocs are getting things done.

Stefan Theil
An illustration shows the Statue of Liberty holding a torch with other hands alongside hers as she lifts the flame, also resembling laurel, into place on the edge of the United Nations laurel logo.
An illustration shows the Statue of Liberty holding a torch with other hands alongside hers as she lifts the flame, also resembling laurel, into place on the edge of the United Nations laurel logo.

A New Multilateralism

How the United States can rejuvenate the global institutions it created.

Gordon Brown
An illustration shows half faces of Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Putin for a story about a ChiRussia alliance.
An illustration shows half faces of Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Putin for a story about a ChiRussia alliance.

The China-Russia Axis Takes Shape

The bond has been decades in the making, but Russia’s war in Ukraine has tightened their embrace.

Bonny Lin
An illustration shows the G-7 logo as a steering wheel of a ship with the flagged boats of India, South Korea, and Australia on the horizon.
An illustration shows the G-7 logo as a steering wheel of a ship with the flagged boats of India, South Korea, and Australia on the horizon.

The G-7 Becomes a Power Player

Russia’s war and China’s rise are turning a talking shop into a fledgling alliance of democracies.

G. John Ikenberry
An illustration shows two large hands with pinky fingers — and their own tiny hand tips — extended in a small handshake for a story about minilateral alliances.
An illustration shows two large hands with pinky fingers — and their own tiny hand tips — extended in a small handshake for a story about minilateral alliances.

The Nimble New Minilaterals

Small coalitions are a smart alternative to cumbersome multilateralism and formal alliances.

C. Raja Mohan
An illustration shows an expanding shield with the NATO alliance logo on it.
An illustration shows an expanding shield with the NATO alliance logo on it.

NATO’s Remarkable Revival

But the bloc’s future could look very different from its past.

Jo Inge Bekkevold
An illustration shows the Statue of Liberty holding a torch with other hands alongside hers as she lifts the flame, also resembling laurel, into place on the edge of the United Nations laurel logo.
An illustration shows the Statue of Liberty holding a torch with other hands alongside hers as she lifts the flame, also resembling laurel, into place on the edge of the United Nations laurel logo.

A New Multilateralism

How the United States can rejuvenate the global institutions it created.

Gordon Brown
An illustration shows half faces of Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Putin for a story about a ChiRussia alliance.
An illustration shows half faces of Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Putin for a story about a ChiRussia alliance.

The China-Russia Axis Takes Shape

The bond has been decades in the making, but Russia’s war in Ukraine has tightened their embrace.

Bonny Lin

Arguments

A line of Liberian children, dressed in matching uniforms of yellow shirts and navy blue shorts, hold Chinese flags as they lean over to see farther up the road.
A line of Liberian children, dressed in matching uniforms of yellow shirts and navy blue shorts, hold Chinese flags as they lean over to see farther up the road.

Aid Is the Next Battleground Between China and the West

The global south’s debts have reached alarming levels, and Beijing is tightening the screws.

Agathe Demarais
Chinese President Xi Jinping attends a signing ceremony in Moscow.
Chinese President Xi Jinping attends a signing ceremony in Moscow.

Xi Jinping Is Trying to Adapt to Failure

China is in a far worse position than when he took office.

Neil Thomas
A crowd of protesters gather behind a burning effigy of a man. A blue sky and some short buildings are visible behind them. Some of the protesters are waving their fists, and one shouts into a megaphone.
A crowd of protesters gather behind a burning effigy of a man. A blue sky and some short buildings are visible behind them. Some of the protesters are waving their fists, and one shouts into a megaphone.

Manipur Crisis Tests Modi’s India

Spiraling violence in the northeastern state takes cues from the ruling party’s majoritarianism.

Sushant Singh
A sailor walks on the deck of an Indian Navy submarine at a naval base in Mumbai.
A sailor walks on the deck of an Indian Navy submarine at a naval base in Mumbai.

India Is Becoming a Power in Southeast Asia

New Delhi and its partners are inching together to balance Beijing.

Derek Grossman
People walk past the art installation "The World Turned Upside Down" by Mark Wallinger on September 07, 2020 in London, United Kingdom.
People walk past the art installation "The World Turned Upside Down" by Mark Wallinger on September 07, 2020 in London, United Kingdom.

Europe’s Losers Have Become Its Winners Again

The balance of power in Europe is changing—just as it always has.

Caroline de Gruyter
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen leans in to speak with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as they walk away from a press conference. They stand elbow-to-elbow and smile as they walk, von der Leyen wearing a blue suit jacket and Zelensky in a military-green polo shirt.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen leans in to speak with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as they walk away from a press conference. They stand elbow-to-elbow and smile as they walk, von der Leyen wearing a blue suit jacket and Zelensky in a military-green polo shirt.

The EU Isn’t Ready for Ukraine to Join

If you think Kyiv’s path to NATO is hard, wait until you see its struggle to enter the EU.

Ilke Toygür, Max Bergmann
Smoke plumes billow from a fire at a lumber warehouse in Khartoum.
Smoke plumes billow from a fire at a lumber warehouse in Khartoum.

How Sudan Became a Saudi-UAE Proxy War

Gulf heavyweights view the conflict as an opportunity to cement their hegemonic status in the Middle East.

Talal Mohammad
A man wearing a matching patterned shirt and pants leans close to a display case of food next to a bus station on a cloudy day. Next to the display case is a campaign poster showing images of the president and vice president, along with green and red text reading "The team to reconnect Nigeria."
A man wearing a matching patterned shirt and pants leans close to a display case of food next to a bus station on a cloudy day. Next to the display case is a campaign poster showing images of the president and vice president, along with green and red text reading "The team to reconnect Nigeria."

Will Bola Tinubu’s Reforms Help or Harm Nigeria?

Removing fuel subsidies and floating the naira’s exchange rate may please international lenders, but the policies could trap millions in poverty.

Pelumi Salako
A woman confronts police during a protest against the government's plan to overhaul the judiciary at Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv, Israel, on July 11.
A woman confronts police during a protest against the government's plan to overhaul the judiciary at Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv, Israel, on July 11.

Women Will Be the Biggest Victims of Israel’s Judicial Reforms

The country’s Supreme Court has played a pivotal role in securing gender equality. Neutering it will deal a blow to women’s rights.

Carmiel Arbit, Yulia Shalomov
A U.S. flag waves over the U.S. Treasury Department in Washington, D.C., on May 8.
A U.S. flag waves over the U.S. Treasury Department in Washington, D.C., on May 8.

America’s Love of Sanctions Will Be Its Downfall

Measures intended to punish autocrats are eroding the very Western order they were meant to preserve.

Christopher Sabatini
Police officers patrol a neighborhood amid gang-related violence in downtown Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
Police officers patrol a neighborhood amid gang-related violence in downtown Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

More Police Won’t Solve Haiti’s Crisis

Gang leaders in the country aren’t independent warlords. They are part of how the state functions.

Pierre Espérance
U.S. presidential candidate Joe Biden pauses while speaking at the SEIU Unions for All Summit in Los Angeles.
U.S. presidential candidate Joe Biden pauses while speaking at the SEIU Unions for All Summit in Los Angeles.

Cluster Bombs and the Contradictions of Liberalism

Do liberals really believe what they say about their foreign-policy ideals?

Stephen M. Walt
An illustration shows overlapping cannons or missile barrels pointing in different directions coming out of a map of Taiwan. A U.S. flag is in a barrel on one side and a China flag in a barrel on the other.
An illustration shows overlapping cannons or missile barrels pointing in different directions coming out of a map of Taiwan. A U.S. flag is in a barrel on one side and a China flag in a barrel on the other.

Deterrence in Taiwan Is Failing

The United States has committed to keeping the peace but isn’t doing enough to stop the war.

Hal Brands

Review

semiconductor-chip-taiwan-china-us-foreign-policy-clint-blowers-photo-hp
semiconductor-chip-taiwan-china-us-foreign-policy-clint-blowers-photo-hp

Let There Be Microchips

The semiconductor and its near-divine creation story.

Virginia Heffernan
People line up outside a store in Siberia in early 1991 before the collapse of the Soviet Union.
People line up outside a store in Siberia in early 1991 before the collapse of the Soviet Union.

An Epic History of the Soviet Everyday

Karl Schlögel re-creates a lost world of long lines and shared spaces.

Sheila Fitzpatrick
WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 17: U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer speaks at a Senate Finance Committee hearing on U.S. trade on Capitol Hill, on June 17, 2020, in Washington DC. (Photo by Andrew Harnik-Pool/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 17: U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer speaks at a Senate Finance Committee hearing on U.S. trade on Capitol Hill, on June 17, 2020, in Washington DC. (Photo by Andrew Harnik-Pool/Getty Images)

Trump Trade War Mastermind Is Back With a Dangerous New Plan

Robert Lighthizer wants total decoupling from China—without thinking through the consequences.

Bob Davis
A boy looks over his shoulder in front of a "Black is Beautiful" sign on a wall of row houses in Manchester, England, in 1969.
A boy looks over his shoulder in front of a "Black is Beautiful" sign on a wall of row houses in Manchester, England, in 1969.

Britain’s Racism Isn’t America’s

The United Kingdom needs to examine its own bigotries.

Angela Saini
An illustration shows a reimagined Nigerian flag with planes and arrows and the word "Japa" for the country's emigrant population who have fled the country.
An illustration shows a reimagined Nigerian flag with planes and arrows and the word "Japa" for the country's emigrant population who have fled the country.

The Word That Captures Nigerians’ Feelings About the Future

“Japa” contains both the hope and the pain of wanting to leave one’s country behind for better opportunities.

Ugonna-Ora Owoh

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