Foreign Policy

THE TRUMP TRANSITION: Key Appointees and Global Reaction

Supporters cheer as newly-elected Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian arrives at the shrine of the Islamic Republic's founder Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in Tehran on July 6.

2024 Was a Year of Angry Elections

A diverse array of countries held national votes this year—but a single storyline stood out.

5 Top Reads

Cameron Abadi

A gridded background with photos of six people on it.

The Best Conversations of the Year

FP Live’s guests included the WTO secretary-general and U.S. ambassador to China.

Roundup

Dana Sherne

A Houthi fighter guards the Galaxy Leader vessel on the Red Sea coast off Hudaydah, Yemen.

A Year of War Has Left the Middle East Less Stable

Disorder and instability reign from Gaza to Syria and the Red Sea.

5 Top Reads

Sasha Polakow-Suransky

Anti-government protesters display Bangladesh's national flag atop the prime minister's palace.

South Asia’s Year in Review

Tracking the region’s biggest surprises in 2024.

South Asia Brief

Michael Kugelman

Weekend Reads

A small line of reindeer seen from above crossing a showy landscape. Trees in the background.

In Sweden, Clean Energy Is Coming for the Reindeer

Green transition infrastructure threatens the Sami people’s way of life in Europe’s far north.

Dispatch

Francesca Dini, Simone Tramonte

A photo illustration shows a stack of vintage TVs with images of Donald Trump, Pete Hegseth, Dr. Oz, Elon Musk, and a fighting gorilla in them.

Get Ready for Trump’s TV Government

Argument

Samantha Hancox-Li

A person wearing headphones puts his hands to his face as he looks through glass in a radio booth. A person stands behind him.

Mourning Turkey’s Last Progressive Radio Station

Argument

Kaya Genc

A photo illustration shows an elephant holding a radio microphone against a muted red background to represent conservative radio hosts.

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December 26, 202411:00am ET

Fareed Zakaria Looks Back at 2024

Every December, FP Live dedicates one episode to looking back at the year that was. 2024 was particularly turbulent, from the election of Donald... READ MORE

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Chip Wars in a Trump 2.0 World

The Road Beyond the Israel-Hezbollah Cease-Fire

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Why the Salt Typhoon Hack Is Freaking Everyone Out

Insider

Rishi Iyengar

Wind turbines operate at a wind farm near solar panels near Palm Springs.

Will Trump Dismantle Biden’s Clean Energy Initiatives?

Insider

Ravi Agrawal

A photo collage illustration shows Donald Trump in profile against red striped background on a beige field. At left is the White House. At right, shipping containers, barricades used in war, and a cloud from a bomb attack in Gaza.

Key Appointees and Priorities

FP’s ongoing updates from staff and contributors.

Tulsi Gabbard in a red suit jacket sits on a small blue couch with her hands clasped on her knee. Behind her are golden circular wall hangings with words in a foreign text on them. A small table with a lamp is on one side, on another an ottoman with a plant atop it.

The Transformation of Tulsi Gabbard

A close-up photo of George Glass's face.

Trump Nominates Tough-on-China Businessman As Japan Ambassador

Former U.S. President Donald Trump invites U.S. Senate candidate Kari Lake on stage during a campaign rally at Findlay Toyota Center in Prescott Valley, Arizona, on Oct. 13.

Trump’s Latest Appointments

An employee works on an aluminum piston ring production line at a factory that produces car parts in the city of Binzhou, in eastern China’s Shandong province, on Oct. 14.

Trump’s Threat to Revoke China’s Trade Status, Explained

Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump walk together at the G-20 summit in Osaka, Japan, on June 28, 2019.

The Pitfalls for Europe of a Trump-Putin Deal on Ukraine

Visitors interact with an immersive light and AI display at the "Modern Guru and the Path to Artificial Happiness" exhibition by Australian art studio Eness at the Icon Siam shopping mall in Bangkok on Dec. 2.

Trump Must Rebalance America’s AI Strategy

In the Magazine

Current Issue: Fall 2024 Archives

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Letters to the Next President

No matter who wins the White House, these nine thinkers from around the world would like a word.

Analysis

Catherine Ashton, Jason Bordoff, Arancha González, Martin Kimani, Mark Malloch-Brown, Joseph S. Nye Jr., Danny Quah, Nirupama Rao, Joseph E. Stiglitz

Is 2024 Really the Most Important Election in History?

Democracy—and the global system—might not be so easily dismantled.

Essay

Michael Hirsh

The Top International Relations Schools of 2024, Ranked

Infographic

Irene Entringer García Blanes, Susan Peterson, Michael J. Tierney

Revisiting Chinese Empire

Review

Bethany Allen

FP Columnists

Michael Kugelman

South Asia’s Year in Review

James Palmer

China’s Year in Review

Elisabeth Braw

New Geopolitical Words We Learned in 2024

Caroline de Gruyter

The Elitist Truth About Far-Right Populism

Syria’s Future

People dance and sing as they take part in victory celebrations in Damascus, Syria, on Dec. 13.

How Post-Assad Syria Could Unleash a New Regional Order

Turkey can calm Arab nations fearful of an Islamist takeover by inviting Syria’s neighbors and the Gulf states to play a central role in the political transition.

Analysis

Galip Dalay

Syrian refugees and their supporters celebrate the fall of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, seen in Istanbul, Turkey, on Dec. 8.

In Post-Assad Middle East, Iran’s Loss Is Turkey’s Gain

Analysis

Vali Nasr

People stand atop a tank holding a Syrian flag adn celebrating with their arms raised.

Assad’s Fall Is the Middle East’s 1989

Analysis

Lina Khatib

A framed picture of Bashar al-Assad is seen with its glass shattered on the ground.

How the World Got Syria Wrong

Argument

Charles Lister

An anti-government fighter steps on the head of a statue of late Syrian leader Hafez al-Assad in the Damascus district of Kafr Sousa on Dec. 9.

Washington Needs a New Syria Policy Right Now

Analysis

Jonathan Lord

Russia's senior military officer Sergei Rudskoi sits below a map of Syria screened during a briefing at the Russian Defence Ministry headquarters in Moscow on April 14, 2018, following overnight joint strikes by the US, Britain and France in Syria.

Syria Is Again a Victim of Its Geography

Argument

Arash Reisinezhad

A child and a man wear oxygen masks in a makeshift clinical setting.

Assad Must Face Justice for His Government’s Atrocities

Argument

Annie Sparrow, Kenneth Roth

Subscribers’ Picks

U.S. President Joe Biden meets employees of the Lobito Atlantic Railway at the Port of Lobito in Lobito, Angola, on Dec. 4.

Is the U.S. Answer to China’s Belt and Road Working?

The International Development Finance Corporation has put the United States more on the map, but China remains king of global infrastructure.

Analysis

Lili Pike, Christina Lu

Taliban fighters ride on a U.S.-made Humvee to celebrate the first anniversary of their return to power in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Aug. 15, 2022.

Who Lost More Weapons—Russia in Syria or America in Afghanistan?

After the collapse of their client states, both patrons left behind a trove of military equipment.

Analysis

Gil Barndollar, Matthew C. Mai

How Post-Assad Syria Could Unleash a New Regional Order

Turkey can calm Arab nations fearful of an Islamist takeover by inviting Syria’s neighbors and the Gulf states to play a central role in the political transition.

Analysis

Galip Dalay