The South China Sea has become one of the world’s most dangerous flash points. So far, the dispute has not resulted in military conflict. But it could. A globe showing islands in the South China Sea with China’s nine-dash line, Singapore, 13 July 2018 (AP...
U.S. President Donald Trump calls it the “I-word”. It has lawmakers in Washington in a quandry. So what is impeachment and how does it work? Depiction of the impeachment trial of President Andrew Johnson in 1868 (Harper’s Weekly, Wikimedia Commons)...
The Soviet Union and its allies opposed the West for 36 years. After the Iron Curtain fell, NATO expanded, deepening Russian-Western tensions. Russian Premier Nikolai Bulganin signs the eight-nation Warsaw Pact, Warsaw, Poland, 14 May 14, 1955 (AP Photo) The North...
It’s unloved and misunderstood. It splits time between Brussels and Strasbourg. Its powers have grown, yet voters shun it. It’s the European Parliament. European Parliament, Strasbourg, France, 5 February 2014 (Wikimedia Commons, by Diliff) Voters from the...
A bloody attack in New Zealand brought the word “terrorist” back into the headlines. What is terrorism, and why is the term controversial? Palestine Liberation Organization Chairman Yasser Arafat, center, looks behind as Israeli Prime Yitzhak Rabin speaks during the...
A decades-long conflict over Kashmir escalated rapidly last week. Here’s why fights between India and Pakistan matter to the world. Indians wait to welcome the return of a captured Indian pilot at the India-Pakistan border, 1 March 2019 (AP Photo/Prabhjot Gill)...
Taiwan is an economic powerhouse caught between China and the United States, facing an uncertain future: Independence, subjugation or status quo? Soldiers hoist Taiwan’s national flag in Taipei, Taiwan, 1 February 2019 (EPA-EFE/David Chang) Who would have thought that...
Revolutions lead in uncertain directions. Today, the effects of Iran’s revolution are still being felt on geopolitics, women’s rights and global conflict. An Iranian soldier during a demonstration in Isfahan, Iran, December 1979 (AP Photo/Michel Lipchitz)...
Venezuela’s collapse predates Maduro and Chavez. Venezuela is afflicted by the “paradox of plenty” — oil abundance has impoverished the nation. A Venezuelan protester against President Nicolas Maduro and in favor of Juan Guaidó, Buenos Aires,...
Theresa May is racing to negotiate a Brexit accord that the UK Parliament can support. Our decoder explains why the deal hinges on the Irish backstop. Demonstrators hold banners on the Northern Ireland/Republic of Ireland border on 26 Jan. 2019. (AP Photo/Peter...