An illustration shows the United States map on a globe stand with the world shattered around it. The stand is in blue and red.
An illustration shows the United States map on a globe stand with the world shattered around it. The stand is in blue and red.

Why Everyone in Washington Is a ‘Realist’ Now

What’s emerging is not yet a new consensus. But neither is it as incoherent as current rhetoric would have you believe.

Analysis
Michael Hirsh
An American flag is raised on Leyet in the Philippines on Oct. 20, 1944.
An American flag is raised on Leyet in the Philippines on Oct. 20, 1944.

With Territory Comes Torment

History offers painful lessons for Trump’s expansionist desires.

Argument
Syrus Solo Jin
Government officials carry Prime Minister Kwame Nkrumah.
Government officials carry Prime Minister Kwame Nkrumah.

The Political Giant the West Forgot

Kwame Nkrumah’s life demonstrates that the end of colonial rule in Africa is central to modern history.

Excerpt
Howard W. French
A man with dark hair in glasses and a coat.
A man with dark hair in glasses and a coat.

The Dreamers and Cynics of the New Turkey

A renowned director quietly probes life under Erdogan.

Essay
Kaya Genc
Photos of two men speaking each shown as a negative color inside a red and blue circle.
Photos of two men speaking each shown as a negative color inside a red and blue circle.

Kissinger, Brzezinski, and the Promise of Realism

A cynical realism resonates today, but there is a model for fusing power and values. This article has an audio recording

Essay
Daniel Fried
Two people are silhouetted in a shaft of light as they sit in chairs in a cafe.
Two people are silhouetted in a shaft of light as they sit in chairs in a cafe.

The Most Successful CIA Operation You’ve Never Heard of

How the agency’s program to circulate banned books helped take down the Iron Curtain.

Review
Johannes Lichtman
A large column looms over a small person standing atop a large field of rubble holding up a phone to take a photo.
A large column looms over a small person standing atop a large field of rubble holding up a phone to take a photo.

Life Returns to Palmyra

After more than a decade of exile, locals are finally coming home.

Dispatch
Alex Martin Astley
A grid of book covers for 11 summer fiction releases.
A grid of book covers for 11 summer fiction releases.

The Novels We’re Reading in August

The dog days of summer, from an 18th-century English village to modern-day Tbilisi.

Books
Chloe Hadavas, Allison Meakem
An illustration shows Xi Jinping sitting at a table covered with a red cloth. He cuts a plate and dumpling in half with giant scissors. Other fractured plates and chopsticks litter the table around him.
An illustration shows Xi Jinping sitting at a table covered with a red cloth. He cuts a plate and dumpling in half with giant scissors. Other fractured plates and chopsticks litter the table around him.

Xi Jinping’s War on Dinner Is Hurting China’s Economy

An anti-corruption campaign is chilling consumption.

Argument
Lizzi C. Lee
Two world leaders speak underneath a replica of a clay treaty.
Two world leaders speak underneath a replica of a clay treaty.

Pharaohs, Maharajas, and the Making of a Multipolar World

Examples from non-Western history offer more promising precedents for the end of U.S. hegemony.

Analysis
Amitav Acharya
The book cover of Exophony by Yoko Tawada
The book cover of Exophony by Yoko Tawada

Yoko Tawada’s Quiet Radicalism

In a newly translated collection, the Japanese German author probes what it means to live between languages.

Review
Rhoda Feng
Protestors carry signs as they demonstrate against proposed cuts to Medicaid and Medicare outside City Hall in San Francisco on Sept. 21, 2011.
Protestors carry signs as they demonstrate against proposed cuts to Medicaid and Medicare outside City Hall in San Francisco on Sept. 21, 2011.

Why Don’t Americans Rise up Against Unpopular Policy Anymore?

The last time a political party paid a price for legislation was in 1989.

Analysis
Julian E. Zelizer
A grid showing the covers of 15 new book releases coming this summer.
A grid showing the covers of 15 new book releases coming this summer.

FP’s Books of the Summer

The biggest releases in foreign affairs, history, and economics.

Books
FP Editors
A tourist leans against a sign that reads "Welcome to the People's Temple Jonestown" as two people take photos of them. The sign arches over a muddy dirt road with dense trees and brush on either side.
A tourist leans against a sign that reads "Welcome to the People's Temple Jonestown" as two people take photos of them. The sign arches over a muddy dirt road with dense trees and brush on either side.

After Chernobyl, Jonestown?

Guyana taps into the dark tourism trend by opening the site where cult members purportedly drank the Kool-Aid.

Dispatch
Alexander Wooley
Crew members gather on a dock before the USS Santa Fe as the flags of the United States, Australia, and the United Kingdom wave.
Crew members gather on a dock before the USS Santa Fe as the flags of the United States, Australia, and the United Kingdom wave.

If AUKUS Is Toast, What Should Australia Do Next?

Amid Elbridge Colby’s review of the submarine deal, three books consider the future of the alliance itself.

Review
Connor O’Brien
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