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June 30, 2026
 

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Marc Champion
A man holding a Polish national flag lights a candle at the site of a mass burial of Poles killed by Ukrainian nationalists during World War II in the former Polish village of Puznyky, Ukraine, in September.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 29, 2026
Ukraine can’t afford a breakup with Poland over history
This is reckless statecraft at the service of domestic politics on both sides — only Poland isn’t at war.
U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hold a news conference after a meeting at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, in December.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 12, 2026
The U.S. and Israel can’t hide their differences on Iran
The cause of their dispute is, on the surface, simple. Israel says the April ceasefire between Tehran and Washington did not cover Lebanon.
As drone warfare reshapes the Ukraine conflict and the nature of the fighting, Europe is facing pressure to support Kyiv while building its own long-term strategy and security framework separate from the U.S.
COMMENTARY / World
May 26, 2026
The Ukrainians are doing better, now it’s the Europeans’ turn
Overall, the nature of the battlefield has changed in ways that blunt Russia’s overwhelming advantages in manpower, artillery and armor.
Mutual overconfidence and strategic miscalculation by both the U.S. and Iran are making renewed war increasingly likely because neither side fully understands the other’s strengths, weaknesses or willingness to endure pain.
COMMENTARY / World
May 13, 2026
The risk of the Iran war restarting is irrationally high
So long as the ceasefire holds and Hormuz remains blocked, the conflict is now a test of how well each side can withstand the economic and political strain inflicted by the other.
A man passes a mural on a wall in Tehran after U.S. President Donald Trump said that he had agreed to a two-week ceasefire with Iran, on April 8.
COMMENTARY / World
May 11, 2026
If Iran agrees to everything, was the war worth it?
The strongest argument against the reported U.S. proposal is that it would leave Iran controlling the Strait of Hormuz.
Donald Trump's decades-long unchanging foreign policy approach, combined with erratic behavior, has amplified risks and confusion in U.S. dealings with Russia, Iran and the wider world.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 24, 2026
We’re all trapped in Trump’s 1980s worldview
Current events provide a vivid example of how Trump’s failure to evolve distorts policy making.
People mourn the death of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in joint U.S. and Israeli strikes, in Tehran on Sunday.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 1, 2026
Trump’s ambitions for Iran: He wants everything.
Yet the most ambitious goal, and the one that must be achieved to make sense of all the others, was regime change.
Locals hold a Ukrainian flag on a destroyed bridge in Irpin, Ukraine, during a memorial ceremony on Tuesday marking the fourth anniversary of Russia’s invasion.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 27, 2026
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has already changed the world
Russia’s record in this tragedy is less inspiring. The war has been the catastrophe that even many in the Kremlin feared.
U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin attend a news conference following their meeting to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine in Anchorage, Alaska, in August.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 18, 2026
Putin has weaponized the peace talks. The U.S. can stop him
More than a year into negotiations that President Donald Trump said would take him 24 hours to resolve, the recent talks in Dubai produced nothing beyond a prisoner swap.
A woman walks past a mural depicting a U.S. drone on a wall of the former U.S. Embassy in Tehran. U.S. President Donald Trump’s mixed signals on Iran raise doubts that Washington has a clear strategy or enough understanding of the country to manage the consequences of military action.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 6, 2026
On Iran, U.S. needs a little more data and a lot less hubris
Responses from Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and his officials have ranged from let’s talk (about nuclear) to forget about it and make my day.
As Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continues, Vladimir Putin’s reluctance to engage with global crises, such as America's actions in Venezuela, reveals his limited ability to assert Russian power on the world stage.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 23, 2026
Putin’s recent silence is worrying
It’s hard to know exactly what Russians think, as reporting there is strictly limited.
Then-Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi meets with his Venezuelan counterpart, Nicolas Maduro, in Tehran in June 2022.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 11, 2026
America’s Venezuela playbook won’t work in Iran
Whether the Islamic Republic is ripe to fall from an external U.S. or Israeli nudge is a complicated question.
A Danish flag flutters next to a statue of Hans Egede, a Norwegian missionary who revitalized Danish-Norwegian ties to the island, in Nuuk, Greenland.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 9, 2026
The Greenland alarm is sounding — Europe needs to hear it
Greenland has a landmass three times the size of Texas under which there are thought to be large quantities of untapped rare earths, among other minerals that Trump wants.
U.S. President Donald Trump meets with Russian leader Vladimir Putin in Anchorage, Alaska, in August for peace talks on ending the war in Ukraine.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 5, 2026
‘The West’ is near death. It’s also worth fighting for.
So, no, the West doesn’t stretch back to ancient Greece, because the ancient Greeks never mentioned it or conceived of it.
Whether it's within NATO or through bespoke coalitions, Europe must coordinate its military and diplomatic efforts to deter aggression, protect allies, and ensure it can project power effectively beyond the EU’s highly regulated and limiting institutions.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 3, 2025
The EU is the wrong power player for Ukraine
Europe lacks the institutions, resources and political cohesion to defend against Russia and China, leaving NATO, bespoke coalitions and individual nations to fill the gap.
U.S. Marines at Air Station Iwakuni in Yamaguchi Prefecture demonstrate the Typhon ground-launched missile system in September. Capable of launching land-based Tomahawks, it has already been deployed in global exercises, proving that the technical challenges often cited as an excuse to withhold Tomahawks from Ukraine are unfounded.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 27, 2025
Sanctions or Tomahawks? Only credible threats will convince Putin.
A lack of resolve and realism in the West has encouraged Putin to believe he need only wait until Ukraine’s backers fail it and he’ll be able to achieve his maximalist goals.
U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin meet in Anchorage, Alaska, on Aug. 15. Putin is growing vulnerable, but Trump’s wavering and Europe’s divisions risk wasting the chance to end the Ukraine war.
COMMENTARY
Sep 17, 2025
Did Putin finally overplay his hand with Ukraine?
Vladimir Putin grows vulnerable, but Donald Trump’s wavering and Europe’s divisions risk squandering the chance to force an end to the war.
This damaged drone was found in a field near the eastern Polish village of Czosnowka on Wednesday.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 11, 2025
Lessons for NATO after Putin sends drones over Poland
The U.S. and Europe have a lot to learn from Russia’s warning shot.
Russian traditional nesting dolls with images of Russian President Vladimir Putin, as well as U.S. President Donald Trump. Ukrainian and European leaders worry that the hastily arranged Alaska meeting between the two leaders risks playing into Russia’s hands.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 13, 2025
Putin is about to outplay Trump again in Alaska
Trump isn’t wrong to try sitting down with U.S. foes and rivals, even where more conventional leaders would avoid the risk. But hastily arranged encounters rarely result as hoped.
Russian President Vladimir Putin meets veterans involved in the Ukraine war, at the Kremlin on June 12. Europe should tap Russia’s frozen central bank assets to fund Ukraine’s defense, given Donald Trump’s conditions on U.S. aid.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 16, 2025
Russia’s frozen $245 billion can pay for Ukraine’s arms
Replacing the U.S. military and financial aid provided by President Joe Biden’s administration would cost about $45 billion a year for the duration of the war.
Uruguay federation reportedly cancels charter flight after World Cup exit
Uruguay's Jose Maria Gimenez reacts after the team's loss against Spain at the 2026 FIFA World Cup on Friday.
Inside Japan’s rigid adoption system, a British family finds a way
James Benstead, his wife, Jesse, and their three children. Their adopted son is in the rear stroller.
India’s gig workers pay the price for exposure to New Delhi’s hazardous air
Rohit Kushwaha waits for a customer as he delivers his last parcel of the day, in New Delhi in January. His work as a delivery driver has helped pay the family’s bills, but has had a significant impact on his health.
Chinese and Russian bombers and fighter jets stage joint patrol near Japan
A Chinese Air Force H-6 bomber is seen during a joint patrol with Russian military aircraft on Saturday.
U.S. missile moves in Japan send China clear message: A new era has arrived
Soldiers conduct the first Typhon midrange capability live-fire exercise outside of the continental United States, firing an SM-6 missile in July last year in Australia's Northern Territory during Exercise Talisman Sabre.
Inside Japan’s rigid adoption system, a British family finds a way
James Benstead, his wife, Jesse, and their three children. Their adopted son is in the rear stroller.
A French ship with close ties to Japan combines arts and sciences on the high seas
Romain Troublé, the executive director of Tara Ocean Foundation, speaks to visitors aboard the Tara during a rare port call in Tokyo in April.
LGBTQ+ families are building lives Japanese lawmakers still struggle to see
Haru Ono founded Nijiiro Kazoku in 2010 after forming a same-sex stepfamily. She said the impetus for founding the organization was that she couldn’t find much reliable information out there for families such as hers in Japan.
In Kyushu’s far south, Senti.U sparks a culinary destination
Chef Yasuhiko Uchida was born in Saga Prefecture but has made his home in Kanoya, Kagoshima Prefecture, since 2012.
‘The colors speak for themselves’: How Japan’s chroma bible went global
“A Dictionary of Color Combinations” is meant to function as a quick-reference guide for artists, designers and anyone with a passing interest in aesthetics as a quantifiable pursuit.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

The Terasaka Rice Terraces are seen with Mount Buko in the background.
What Yokoze can teach Japan about rural revival
By Alex K.T. Martin

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