Global Voices

In my previous piece — The Walls Have Doors Now — I argued that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s promised “ measures like have never been seen in the history of the economic isolation of a country ” would push against...

When ASEAN formally accorded Türkiye Dialogue Partner status on 21 July, Ankara gained more than diplomatic access. It gained a test of whether Turkish firms can operate across a region where currencies, contracts, carbon rules and political risks vary sharply...

The hardliner–pragmatist divide is a useful analytical framework for understanding the main disagreement over the war, but the reality of power within the Islamic Republic (IR) is more layered. Actors who find themselves on the same side of the debate...

North Korean paramount leader Kim Jong-un has demonstrated he can make bold policy decisions. In 2013 he sought to frighten his senior officials into obedience by ordering the execution of his uncle and senior mentor Jang Song-thaek. In 2017 he...

By Tita C. Valderama Image from Institute for Maritime and Ocean Affairs The Philippines is taking another legal and diplomatic step to assert its maritime rights in the West Philippine Sea, asking a United Nations commission to consider the 2016 South China...

Consider this hypothetical: Two apartment buildings share a single parking lot. Management from both Building A and Building B are engaged in negotiations over how the parking lot will be organized, painted, maintained, and paid for. Across the street is...

Six months after Trumpy & Bibi launched Operation Epic Fury against Iran on February 28th, the so-called kinetic campaign has settled into a costly stalemate, at best. And a de facto military defeat as a practical matter. In fact, what...

The world is installing wind turbines and solar panels faster than ever, but coal still generates more electricity than any other source, and by a huge margin. The International Energy Agency (IEA) expects coal-fired power plants to generate 10,974 terawatt-hours...

In this issue: - Wang Yi in South Korea - Unitree IPO - Ministry of Justice tells EU to pound sand in JD.com case - Youth unemployment rate hits 17.9% in July - Beijing finally approves purchases of Nvidia H200 chips - ”Once Upon a Time...

The threat reveals less about Oman and far more about how comprehensively the Iran war has gone off script for an administration that promised a quick, decisive victory. President Donald Trump did not set out to make an enemy of...

Oilfield services giant SLB is preparing to reactivate as many as 15 drilling rigs in Venezuela, potentially removing one of the biggest obstacles to increasing the country’s crude production. SLB and energy-focused private equity firm Formentera Partners are working on...

Officials say all seven people onboard killed, including Telemundo executive and Ecuador intelligence chief Seven people, including five Americans, were killed when a safari helicopter crashed on Wednesday morning in a remote part of northern Kenya, according to local police and...

Afshon Ostovar, one of the leading experts on Iran and the host of the members-only podcast The Iran Reckoning, is joined by War on the Rocks membership editor Kerry Anderson for a state-of-play conversation on the conflict between the United...

Hebron / PNN / In the Old City of Hebron, some traditional Palestinian crafts continue to resist decline, maintaining a fragile presence despite rapid change and a shrinking workforce. Among them is handmade glassmaking , a centuries-old craft passed down through...

Kyrgyzstan has provided some clarity on the source of the recent blackout that impacted four states in Central Asia, while vigorously denying blame for the cascading outage. Power outages were first reported in the Kyrgyz capital of Bishkek during the...

American star Kanye West's upcoming concerts in Russia have sparked political controversy, but they have done little to change the attitude of a grateful audience toward the artist. Does Kanye West Love Hitler? American rapper Ye (Kanye West) is officially coming to...

The world’s largest battery-electric aircraft has completed its first flight using just $5 worth of electricity, with Heart Aerospace’s 25,000-pound X1 demonstrator flying for 27 minutes and putting a megawatt-scale electric propulsion system through its first airborne test. Heart Aerospace’s...

Key Takeaways from the webinar: Multi-agent intelligent assistant systems of the future will be architected to automate and augment SoC design and security verification and redefining semiconductor innovation, reshaping design, verification and security for the next generation of trusted silicon. The ESD...

Romania spent more than 2 million euros this month detonating rocks and sinking barges in the Danube, trying to shove enough water toward the Cernavoda nuclear plant to keep its reactors cool. It didn’t work. On Aug. 13, Nuclearelectrica began...

🗳️ This is Midterm Madness , the only newsletter you need to stay up to date on election news. Key race updates, money trails, numbers that cut through the spin, and campaign moments that say more than official talking points...

For months, Bangladesh and India had been attempting that favorite diplomatic maneuver, the “reset,” a word suggesting that international relations, like an obstinate Wi-Fi router, can be repaired by switching everything off and starting again. There was certainly plenty to...

This statement was originally published on mfwa.org on 4 August 2026. On August 1, 2026, Moussa Mara, Mali’s former prime minister and current president of the opposition party Yéléma, was released from prison after serving a one-year jail sentence. He was charged...

Inflation has leaped up following the reset of the energy price cap, official data has revealed, marking the likely beginning of a long run of increases in price growth. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) put the consumer price index...

Chinese intelligence, military, political, and strategic circles received the news of the meeting between Egyptian Intelligence Chief Major General Hassan Rashad and a Hamas delegation in Cairo on Sunday, August 16, 2026, headed by Khalil Al-Hayya, as a pivotal step...

Panda-powered tourism fuels summer resort economy in southwest China town The Shenshuping Base of Wolong China Giant Panda Garden, operated by the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda (CCRCGP), is home to over 70 giant pandas. The...

Washington may be biting off more than it can chew: escalating over Hormuz could trigger a wider confrontation, undermine U.S. credibility, and expose the limits of American power. A Strait at the Center of a New Power Struggle Trump’s Hormuz...