Penulis: Agus S

ON MARCH 2NDTulsi Gabbard, America’s director of national intelligence, accused Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine’s president, of seeking a third world war “or even a nuclear war”. Ms Gabbard has a long history of conspiratorial and pro-Russian views. Her former aides say she routinely read and shared propaganda published byRT, a Kremlin mouthpiece.

This article appeared in the International section of the print edition under the headline “Donald Trump v the spies of Five Eyes”

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After decades of rising secularism, Christianity is holding its ground—and gaining among the young

Its plan was to hold off a Chinese attack until America turned up. What now?

MAGA-world flirts with forces that once tore Europe apart

His regime uses payouts to salve Russian families’ grief

MANY HAVEtried to stifle the Voice of America (VOA) in the eight decades since its hurried birth as a wartime broadcaster in 1942. These days China blocks its website and jams its signals. In 2017 Russia declaredVOAto be a “foreign agent”. Yet it isPresident Donald Trumpwho may silence it for good.

This article appeared in the International section of the print edition under the headline “Voicelessness of America”

Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents

After decades of rising secularism, Christianity is holding its ground—and gaining among the young

Its plan was to hold off a Chinese attack until America turned up. What now?

MAGA-world flirts with forces that once tore Europe apart

His regime uses payouts to salve Russian families’ grief

EIGHT DECADESafter the event, Janis Cecins cannot know whether the Soviet train guard who transformed his family’s destiny was being kind or dim. Either way, the soldier allowed Mr Cecins’s parents—a young Latvian couple being forcibly transported to the Soviet zone in occupied post-war Germany—to leave his train one night, on a promise to return in the morning. Mr Cecins’s parents skipped that appointment, and eventually found their way to an Allied-run camp for displaced persons (DPs). The pair were among a million or so civilians with no wish to return to their pre-war homes. The fate of thoseDPs led in time to the creation of the modern asylum system, including the Geneva convention of 1951, which bars states from returning refugees to a country where they face serious threats to their life or freedom.

This article appeared in the International section of the print edition under the headline “The right way to fight nativists”

Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents

After decades of rising secularism, Christianity is holding its ground—and gaining among the young

Its plan was to hold off a Chinese attack until America turned up. What now?

MAGA-world flirts with forces that once tore Europe apart

His regime uses payouts to salve Russian families’ grief

Correction (April 1st 2025): The introduction to this article suggested that the absence of Italy’s Chief of Defence Staff, General Portolano, from a meeting of the “coalition of the willing” reflected Italian misgivings over Europe’s response to President Trump. We now understand the general was not expected at the meeting, which was for more junior officers.

This article appeared in the International section of the print edition under the headline “Wing women”

Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents

After decades of rising secularism, Christianity is holding its ground—and gaining among the young

Its plan was to hold off a Chinese attack until America turned up. What now?

MAGA-world flirts with forces that once tore Europe apart

His regime uses payouts to salve Russian families’ grief

IN THESE VERTIGINOUStimes, America’s allies are taking a new look at their relations with China. In recent years, politicians in Europe and elsewhere in the West have talked boldly and clearly about the economic, geopolitical and ethical risks posed by China, an autocratic giant with plans to reshape the world. Now, though, their willingness to speak out may become more selective.

This article appeared in the International section of the print edition under the headline “Zipping its lip on China”

Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents

After decades of rising secularism, Christianity is holding its ground—and gaining among the young

Its plan was to hold off a Chinese attack until America turned up. What now?

MAGA-world flirts with forces that once tore Europe apart

His regime uses payouts to salve Russian families’ grief

EACH TIMESlawomir Mentzen speaks, the crowds seem to get larger. In a matter of weeks the 38-year-old far-right firebrand has leapfrogged to second place in Poland’s presidential contest. Mr Mentzen once said his party opposed “Jews, homosexuals, abortion, taxation and the European Union”. Now, he has a powerful new message: thinly veiled antagonism for Ukraine. A recent poll suggests that one in five Polish voters supports him.

This article appeared in the International section of the print edition under the headline “The sorcerer’s apprentice”

Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents

After decades of rising secularism, Christianity is holding its ground—and gaining among the young

Its plan was to hold off a Chinese attack until America turned up. What now?

MAGA-world flirts with forces that once tore Europe apart

His regime uses payouts to salve Russian families’ grief

LOGICALLY,CHINESEcommunists should be good at spotting revolutionaries. In reality, officials in Beijing are as clueless as anyone when it comes to the most urgent question in world politics. Namely, is the second coming of President Donald Trump a ruder, rougher version of the first? Or is he now an out-and-out radical—willing to break any principle and abandon any ally to advance the national interest, as he sees it?

This article appeared in the International section of the print edition under the headline “Is Donald Trump a revolutionary, or just rude?”

Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents

After decades of rising secularism, Christianity is holding its ground—and gaining among the young

Its plan was to hold off a Chinese attack until America turned up. What now?

MAGA-world flirts with forces that once tore Europe apart

His regime uses payouts to salve Russian families’ grief

BANK REGULATORSare seldom celebrities. But Ahsan Mansur, the governor of Bangladesh’s central bank, is an exception. Since he took over in August, after an autocratic prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, was overthrown by protests, his job has been to untangle the criminal mess she left behind.

This article appeared in the International section of the print edition under the headline “Pillage people”

Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents

After decades of rising secularism, Christianity is holding its ground—and gaining among the young

Its plan was to hold off a Chinese attack until America turned up. What now?

MAGA-world flirts with forces that once tore Europe apart

His regime uses payouts to salve Russian families’ grief

This is the introduction to The War Room, a weekly, subscriber-only newsletter bringing exclusive insights into defence and security.

After decades of rising secularism, Christianity is holding its ground—and gaining among the young

Its plan was to hold off a Chinese attack until America turned up. What now?

MAGA-world flirts with forces that once tore Europe apart

His regime uses payouts to salve Russian families’ grief

EVEN BEFOREPresident Donald Trump declared a trade war on the whole world, this was a noisy time in global power politics. The din of armed conflict is unrelenting in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. In Asia, Chinese sabre-rattling grows ever louder. Every other week, or so it seems to China’s anxious neighbours, the People’s Liberation Army sends fighter jets and warships to encircle the island of Taiwan, or to stage shows of force in contested seas to China’s east and south. Relishing his role as commander-in-chief of the most potent armed forces in history, Mr Trump makes threats to destroy utterly opponents who defy his demands, from Houthi insurgents disrupting shipping in the Red Sea to drug-smuggling cartels in Mexico.

This article appeared in the International section of the print edition under the headline “Dreaded are the peacemakers”

Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents

After decades of rising secularism, Christianity is holding its ground—and gaining among the young

Its plan was to hold off a Chinese attack until America turned up. What now?

MAGA-world flirts with forces that once tore Europe apart

His regime uses payouts to salve Russian families’ grief