Explainers
Backgrounders
  • The search to find a vaccine for the new coronavirus is well underway. Governments and researchers are aiming to provide billions of people with immunity in eighteen months or less, which would be unprecedented.
  • The dollar’s role as the primary reserve currency for the global economy allows the United States to borrow money more easily and impose painful financial sanctions. But some experts say the costs to areas such as the Rust Belt are too high to bear.
  • As more people in China practice religion, the government continues to toughen oversight, increase religious persecution, and attempt to co-opt state-sanctioned religious organizations.
  • The U.S. census, one of the few in the world to directly count every resident, is used to distribute political power as well as federal funding. In 2020, it faces complications due to the coronavirus pandemic, as well as controversy over immigration, cybersecurity, and rising costs.
In Briefs
  • The United Kingdom and European Union are engaged in another bout of Brexit brinkmanship, with Prime Minister Boris Johnson pushing a bill that would undo their previous agreement. Here’s what to know.
  • The U.S. military is considering some major shifts to its posture in Europe, including a large withdrawal from bases in Germany, that are raising security concerns on the continent.
  • Fires in California and Oregon have been more devastating than ever before, but climate change means the worst is yet to come. Here’s how officials can prepare.
  • The August explosions in Beirut were the latest in a series of man-made disasters that have led some experts to say Lebanon is becoming a failed state.
Podcasts
  • Daniel Yergin, a leading authority on energy, international politics, and economics, sits down with James M. Lindsay to discuss the changing face of global power dynamics. Yergin’s most recent book, The New Map: Energy, Climate, and the Clash of Nations, recently hit bookstore shelves.
  • Luciana Borio, vice president of In-Q-Tel and senior fellow for global health at CFR, sits down with James M. Lindsay to discuss the process of developing and distributing a coronavirus vaccine.
  • On this special episode of The World Next Week, James M. Lindsay and Robert McMahon are joined by Ivo H. Daalder, president of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, and Dina Smeltz, senior fellow for public opinion and foreign policy, to discuss the Chicago Council’s annual survey of American attitudes toward foreign policy. This year’s survey, which can be found on the Chicago Council’s website, is entitled “Divided We Stand.”
Special Projects
Videos
  • How is a vaccine developed? Can a vaccine end the COVID-19 pandemic? Senior Fellow Tom Bollyky answers pressing questions about the search for a coronavirus vaccine.
  • Human rights activists now say China's crackdown on Uighur Muslims meets the criteria of genocide. Here's why.
  • COVID-19 has spread across nearly every country in the world, disproportionally infecting and killing the vulnerable. Densely populated refugee camps with limited access to medical care are one of the most high-risk population on the globe. This video explores how international aid groups have stepped in amidst further hardship in refugee camps. 
  • As countries consider how and when to vote in the coming months, here's what experts recommend for holding safe and secure elections during the coronavirus pandemic.
InfoGuides