June 03, 2019
By cracking down on the Tiananmen Square protesters 30 years ago, China's leadership bet that the country could successfully marry strict one-party rule with economic liberalization. That gamble appears to have paid off – in the years since, China has gone from bit player to driving force in the global economy, while lifting hundreds of millions of people out of poverty. Here's a look at China's economy then and now.
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In this “ask ian,” Ian Bremmer breaks down the newly announced two-week ceasefire between the US and Iran and whether it can hold.
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Syrian President Ahmad Al-Sharaa receives Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the People's Palace in Damascus, Syria, on April 5, 2026.
Photo by Rami Alsayed/NurPhoto
It’s hard to think of two world leaders with more unlikely life paths than Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky, a former comedian who played a president on TV only to become the actual president of a country under assault from a nuclear superpower, and Syrian leader Ahmad al-Sharaa, a former Al-Qaeda jihadist who toppled the Assad regime and now jet-sets to Western capitals, shoots hoops with US generals, and spits game at prime time news hosts.
China has boosted its defense spending 13-fold over the past three decades, modernizing its weapons and military into a force capable of operating beyond its borders.
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