economist

THE IRAQwar began on March 21st 2003, when Baghdad’s night sky lit up with American guided bombs and tracer fire. “This will be a campaign unlike any other in history,” promised General Tommy Franks, the cigar-chomping commander ofUSCentral Command (CENTCOM), “a campaign characterised by shock, by surprise…and by the application of overwhelming force.” America’s air-and-ground assault quickly overwhelmed Iraq’s hapless armed forces. But in the years that followed, it overwhelmed the American military, too, leaving it bent out of shape for the accelerating competition with China.

Sweden is banning OnlyFans content as the lines around sex work blur

It is meekly welcoming the new sheriff’s vigilante justice

The answer matters more than you think

Donald Trump prefers deals to regime change

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

If you arelooking for growth opportunities among the world’s 20 biggest economies, two stand out: India andIndonesia. The Asian giants, with a combined population of 1.7bn, are forecast by theimfto be the two fastest-growing top-20 economies in 2023, and over the next five years. Both are pioneering strategies for getting richer in an era of de-globalisation, fraught geopolitics, automation and energy shifts, even as they seek a political formula thatwins electionsand avoids social unrest. Whether they succeed matters not just for their people and the investors betting many billions of dollars on them. It will also set an example for scores of other countries searching for new and reliable ways to develop in the 2020s and beyond.

This article appeared in the International section of the print edition under the headline “India v Indonesia”

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Sweden is banning OnlyFans content as the lines around sex work blur

It is meekly welcoming the new sheriff’s vigilante justice

The answer matters more than you think

Donald Trump prefers deals to regime change

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

This article is part of our Summer reads series. Visit the fullcollectionfor book lists, guest essays and more seasonal distractions.

This article appeared in the International section of the print edition under the headline “Hitting the books”

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Sweden is banning OnlyFans content as the lines around sex work blur

It is meekly welcoming the new sheriff’s vigilante justice

The answer matters more than you think

Donald Trump prefers deals to regime change

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

Caught betweenAmerica, China andRussia, many countries are determined not to pick sides. As the American-led order in place since 1945fragmentsand economic decoupling accelerates, they seek deals across divides. This transactional approach is reshaping geopolitics.

This article appeared in the International section of the print edition under the headline “How to survive a superpower split”

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Sweden is banning OnlyFans content as the lines around sex work blur

It is meekly welcoming the new sheriff’s vigilante justice

The answer matters more than you think

Donald Trump prefers deals to regime change

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

Fighter jetsroar over Khartoum.Bombs rattle the Sudanese capital. Many civilians, sheltering from what may be the start of a civil war, wonder: “why?”

This article appeared in the International section of the print edition under the headline “Why are civil wars lasting longer?”

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Sweden is banning OnlyFans content as the lines around sex work blur

It is meekly welcoming the new sheriff’s vigilante justice

The answer matters more than you think

Donald Trump prefers deals to regime change

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

Read more of our recent coverage of theUkraine war

This article appeared in the International section of the print edition under the headline “The end of a gangsters’ paradise”

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Sweden is banning OnlyFans content as the lines around sex work blur

It is meekly welcoming the new sheriff’s vigilante justice

The answer matters more than you think

Donald Trump prefers deals to regime change

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

Over thepast 20 years, Britain’s capital was so welcoming to oligarchs that it became known as“Londongrad”. Many bought mansions from Highgate to Hyde Park; a couple bought into football clubs. AfterRussia invaded Ukrainein February last year, 48 oligarchs were placed under Western sanctions. The immense wealth of many of Vladimir Putin’s associates highlights the problem of crony capitalism and why more should be done to combat it.

This article appeared in the International section of the print edition under the headline “A bumpy ride for billionaires”

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Sweden is banning OnlyFans content as the lines around sex work blur

It is meekly welcoming the new sheriff’s vigilante justice

The answer matters more than you think

Donald Trump prefers deals to regime change

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

No one enjoysArab League meetings. Morocco was scheduled to host a summit in 2016 but decided not to bother, calling the event a waste of time. Muhammad bin Salman, theSaudi crown prince, procured a doctor’s note to skip last year’s gathering in Algeria. Heads of state are sometimes spotted falling asleep.

This article appeared in the International section of the print edition under the headline “Welcoming back a war criminal”

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Sweden is banning OnlyFans content as the lines around sex work blur

It is meekly welcoming the new sheriff’s vigilante justice

The answer matters more than you think

Donald Trump prefers deals to regime change

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

How shouldEurope handle China? The continent is trying to decide. After decades of pursuing trade, Europeans are pondering how much to decouple. Their closest ally, America, wavers between China-bashing and war talk on the one hand, and de-escalation and partial detente on the other. Individual European countries struggle to agree with each other.

This article appeared in the International section of the print edition under the headline “Why unplugging is so hard”

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Sweden is banning OnlyFans content as the lines around sex work blur

It is meekly welcoming the new sheriff’s vigilante justice

The answer matters more than you think

Donald Trump prefers deals to regime change

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

At the endof the cold war America’s president, George H.W. Bush, popularised the idea that cuttingdefence spendingwould boost the economy. “We can reap a genuine peace dividend this year and then year after year, in the form of permanently reduced defence budgets,” he declared in 1992. The world took note. America went from shelling out 6% of itsgdpon defence in 1989 to roughly 3% in ten years (see chart 1). Then came the 9/11 attacks and conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq. Now with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, talk of war between America and China over Taiwan, and tensions concerning Iran’s nuclear ambitions, countries are tooling up as never before in this century.

This article appeared in the International section of the print edition under the headline “The cost of the global arms race ”

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Sweden is banning OnlyFans content as the lines around sex work blur

It is meekly welcoming the new sheriff’s vigilante justice

The answer matters more than you think

Donald Trump prefers deals to regime change

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