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March 19, 2024

Palestinian Territories
Who Governs the Palestinians?

Power in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, the so-called Palestinian territories, has been divided among three entities: a governing body called the Palestinian Authority, the militant group Hamas, a…

Palestinians wave their national flag as they rally beneath images of President Mahmoud Abbas and his predecessor, Yasser Arafat

December 18, 2023

Latin America
Mercosur: South America’s Fractious Trade Bloc

Three decades after its founding, Latin America’s largest trade bloc continues to deal with internal divisions, including over a stalled trade deal with the European Union. New leadership in Argentina and Brazil could shake things up.

A truck driver waits to unload his cargo of cereal grain at a rail terminal in Brazil.

February 16, 2024

United Kingdom
Moving Past the Troubles: The Future of Northern Ireland Peace

The Good Friday Agreement has dampened sectarian conflict and brought stability to Northern Ireland, but the peace deal has been challenged by Brexit-related border tensions that have thrown the regi…

A peace mural adorns a building in a loyalist neighborhood of Belfast

February 29, 2024

United Nations
Funding the United Nations: How Much Does the U.S. Pay?

Many UN agencies, programs, and missions receive crucial funding from the United States. The Trump administration sharply reduced funding to some UN agencies, but President Biden has largely reversed…

A child peeks out from a blue and white tent managed by the UN refugee agency.

February 8, 2024

Taiwan
Why China-Taiwan Relations Are So Tense

Taiwan has the potential to be a flash point in U.S.-China relations. U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s trip to Taipei in 2022 heightened tensions.

A statue of a Taiwanese soldier looks over the Taiwan straight at a Chinese city.

October 31, 2023

Palestinian Territories
What Is Hamas?

The Palestinian militant group has struggled to govern Gaza and remains committed to violently resisting Israel. Its surprise attack against Israel in 2023 threatens a wider conflagration in the Midd…

Gun-toting Hamas militants ride a vehicle amid a massive crowd of the group's supporters

January 17, 2024

Technology and Innovation
The Crypto Question: Bitcoin, Digital Dollars, and the Future of Money

The dizzying rise of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies has created new challenges for governments and central banks. Increasing popularity and high levels of market volatility have raised the stakes…

A technician inspects the backside of a bitcoin mining operation in Quebec, Canada.

November 2, 2023

Global
What Are the UN Sustainable Development Goals?

The United Nation’s ambitious development agenda aims to protect people and the planet via seventeen goals. But experts say governments aren’t doing enough to implement them.

Students attend a lesson at a school in the Tillabéri region of Niger.

October 11, 2023

G20 (Group of Twenty)
What Does the G20 Do?

The Group of Twenty, an informal gathering of many of the world’s largest economies, is the premier global forum for discussing economic issues. But it has faced divisions over trade, climate change,…

World leaders sit around a circular table at the G20 summit in New Delhi, India.

December 28, 2023

Sub-Saharan Africa
Russia’s Growing Footprint in Africa

African governments have increasingly welcomed economic, diplomatic, and security ties with Russia—leading Western countries to denounce what they see as Moscow’s destabilizing influence and seek the…

A group of protestors hold the flags of Burkina Faso and Russia at a demonstration in Burkina Faso.