The World

In August 1990, less than a year after the Berlin Wall was torn down, Iraq, then led by the ambitious authoritarian ruler Saddam Hussein, invaded and quickly conquered its smaller and weaker neighbor to the south, Kuwait, making it part of Iraq. It was the sort of naked aggression that Iraq, closely associated with and dependent in many ways on the

Countries will also need to work together to address problems of globalization, including but not just climate change, trade, and proliferation. These will require not resurrecting the old order but building a new one. Efforts to limit, adapt to, and possibly offset climate change need to be more ambitious. The WTO must be amended to address the so

South Asia is dominated by India, which will soon surpass China as the world’s most populous country. As a democracy, India offers an important alternative to China in many ways. But the region is also defined by India’s rivalry with Pakistan, by the long-running war in Afghanistan, and by efforts to improve living standards for hundreds of million

Pakistan is thought to have the world’s fastest-growing nuclear arsenal. There have been several crises that led to wars, and the possibility exists for nuclear weapons to be introduced in a war growing out of historical resentments, the dispute over Kashmir (which intensified in 2019 following India’s decision to revoke much of its autonomy), or P

In short, despite greater efficiencies and an improved mix of fuels, increased global energy consumption will continue to add to the climate change challenge for the foreseeable future.

Interestingly, there was more than a little optimism in the wake of World War I, and diplomatic efforts to shape what was to be the postwar world began while fighting was still under way. Woodrow Wilson, the twenty-eighth president of the United States, prioritized the creation of a standing international organization (which became the League of Na

Taiwan fits all of the criteria of a sovereign state. Its governing authorities command a monopoly on the use of force, and it has its own military, central bank, and independent political system. Yet fewer than two dozen countries recognize it as a sovereign country due to China’s claim over the island. In addition, although the United States and

There are also internal political and economic challenges facing several countries. Chinese leaders face not just an aging population and an abundance of men over women (both related to years of imposing a one-child limit on families, something that led many to opt for boys) but also widespread corruption, environmental degradation, and an economy

Canada boasts the world’s eleventh-largest economy and is in the top fifteen when it comes to GDP per capita. It is a robust democracy of nearly forty million people. Along with China and Mexico, it is one of the three largest trading partners of the United States; it is also a member of NATO, the Group of Seven (G7), and the Group of Twenty (G20).