Essay

List of Essay articles

  • Tourists wearing protective face masks visit the Louvre in Paris on Aug. 6 after the lifting of some coronavirus  restrictions.
    Tourists wearing protective face masks visit the Louvre in Paris on Aug. 6 after the lifting of some coronavirus restrictions.

    Why Europe Wins

    Everyone writes off the European Union as dull and prone to fracture. But the last decade shows that Brussels is smarter than Beijing, London, Moscow, and Washington. This article has an audio recording

  • An aerial photo shows the explosion over Hiroshima, Japan, on Aug. 6, 1945, shortly after the "Little Boy" atomic bomb was dropped.
    An aerial photo shows the explosion over Hiroshima, Japan, on Aug. 6, 1945, shortly after the "Little Boy" atomic bomb was dropped.

    The Hiroshima Effect

    Seventy-five years after the first nuclear bomb fell, we are grateful it hasn’t happened again, mystified it didn’t, and terrified it still might.

  • Italy’s Benito Mussolini addresses a crowd in Rome on April 15, 1934.
    Italy’s Benito Mussolini addresses a crowd in Rome on April 15, 1934.

    Why Fascists Fail

    History’s autocrats have been the architects of their own demise. Even if he seizes power, so will Trump.

  • U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger appears before the Senate Appropriations Committee in Washington on April 15, 1975, to urge approval of President Gerald Ford's request for military and humanitarian aid to South Vietnam.
    U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger appears before the Senate Appropriations Committee in Washington on April 15, 1975, to urge approval of President Gerald Ford's request for military and humanitarian aid to South Vietnam.

    Welcome Back to Kissinger’s World

    Neoconservatism has died, and liberal internationalism is discredited. Perhaps it’s time to return to the ideas of one of the last century’s greatest realists. This article has an audio recording

  • deglobalization-localization-lego-globe-ben-fearnley
    deglobalization-localization-lego-globe-ben-fearnley

    How to Save Global Capitalism From Itself

    Decentralizing decision-making can help left-behind regions get back on track. This article has an audio recording

  • Dan Saelinger illustration for Foreign Policy
    Dan Saelinger illustration for Foreign Policy

    Can Social Democrats Save the World (Again)?

    Communism and democratic socialism won’t heal today’s political divisions. But social democracy—which helped ward off extremism following World War II—could.

  • A worker washes one of two M1A1 Abrams tanks that are loaded on rail cars at a rail yard in Washington on July 2.
    A worker washes one of two M1A1 Abrams tanks that are loaded on rail cars at a rail yard in Washington on July 2.

    It’s Trump’s Fourth of July Now

    The president’s military parade only furthers his vision of a dumbed-down America that may no longer be up to the task of global leadership.

  • U.S. and British World War II veterans gather at the U.S. 1st Infantry Division memorial on a hill that overlooks Omaha Beach in Normandy to commemorate the World War II Allied D-Day invasion in Colleville-sur-Mer, France, on June 3.
    U.S. and British World War II veterans gather at the U.S. 1st Infantry Division memorial on a hill that overlooks Omaha Beach in Normandy to commemorate the World War II Allied D-Day invasion in Colleville-sur-Mer, France, on June 3.

    D-Day’s Dying Legacy

    The last survivors of the Normandy invasion—and history's worst war—are almost gone. How long will the international system they helped create survive them?

  • Students from Beijing University during a massive demonstration at Tiananmen Square on May 18, 1989, before they began a hunger strike as part of the pro-democracy protests against the Chinese government.
    Students from Beijing University during a massive demonstration at Tiananmen Square on May 18, 1989, before they began a hunger strike as part of the pro-democracy protests against the Chinese government.

    30 Years After Tiananmen: How the West Still Gets China Wrong

    Washington once mistakenly thought the crackdown would be temporary. It was wrong then, just as it’s wrong about a new Cold War now.

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