Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

News

A Week of Rising International Risk

A Week of Rising International Risk

The most consequential story in international politics right now is the sheer number of potentially consequential stories. Here are ten of them.


The US-China Trade War

Trump meets Xi at the G20 leaders summit in Osaka, Japan

The US-China Trade War: Fed up with a lack of progress in negotiations, President Trump announced new tariffs on more Chinese goods. Beijing, with one eye on the US electoral map, responded by telling its state-run companies to stop buying from US farmers and then allowed traders to push the Chinese currency to a worrying new low. Markets quaked.

The bottom line: None of these stories is fated to end in disaster for those exposed to them. But all of them look to be moving in the wrong direction.

More For You

​U.S. President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi hold up signed documents regarding securing the supply of critical minerals and rare earths, at a bilateral meeting at Akasaka Palace in Tokyo, Japan, October 28, 2025.

U.S. President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi hold up signed documents regarding securing the supply of critical minerals and rare earths, at a bilateral meeting at Akasaka Palace in Tokyo, Japan, October 28, 2025.

REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein
Critical mineral deals to be cut in Washington this weekRepresentatives from the European Union, United Kingdom, Japan, and others will meet in Washington this week to discuss a strategic alliance on critical minerals. The aim: decrease reliance on China, which currently controls an average market share around 70%. The Trump administration also [...]
​People take part in a rally in support of Czech President Petr Pavel, organised by Million Moments for Democracy group in reaction to dispute between President Pavel and Czech Foreign Minister and Motorists chair Petr Macinka, in Prague, Czech Republic, February 1, 2026.

People take part in a rally in support of Czech President Petr Pavel, organised by Million Moments for Democracy group in reaction to dispute between President Pavel and Czech Foreign Minister and Motorists chair Petr Macinka, in Prague, Czech Republic, February 1, 2026.

REUTERS/Eva Korinkova
80,000: The number of people estimated to be in the streets of Czechia on Sunday to show their support for President Petr Pavel after he blocked the nomination of an environmental minister who performed the Nazi salute and posted Nazi memorabilia. The drama is emblematic of the deepening polarization between the pro-European Union president and [...]
​US President Donald Trump and musician Nicki Minaj in Washington, D.C., USA, on January 28, 2026.

US President Donald Trump and musician Nicki Minaj hold hands onstage at the US Treasury Department's Trump Accounts Summit, in Washington, D.C., USA, on January 28, 2026.

REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
Last week, US President Donald Trump unveiled the “Trump Accounts” – government-seeded investment accounts for children born during his second term – at an event featuring Nicki Minaj and Kevin O’Leary, two celebrity business figures from very different corners of the marketplace. The idea was straightforward: the government contributes $1,000 at [...]
Graphic Truth: Costa Rica’s severe murder rate
Eileen Zhang
Costa Rica was once known as one of the most tranquil and stable countries in Latin America. A dollarized, tourism-oriented democracy so peaceful and picturesque that it didn’t even have an army. That idyll has been blown apart in recent years as murder rates – particularly among young men – have shot up to new highs. The culprit? Drug cartels. [...]