The 15-70-15 rule and other ways to prise powerful fingers from the public coffers

Its experts cannot decide whether the second Trump presidency is a threat or opportunity

The effects are often unexpected

In a fracturing world, trade and co-operation will come first

His antics are causing headaches for Giorgia Meloni and Marine Le Pen

A revealing new history of the cold-war crisis that inspired modern refugee law

The shutdown of VOA, RFE/RL and other broadcasters weakens America and supporters of democracy

Will America’s president damage the world’s most powerful intelligence pact?

Will the president damage the world’s most powerful intelligence pact?

Foreign-policy realists will struggle to explain America’s sharp turn

Only with something inferior to Elon Musk’s offering

Poland wants co-operation with France on a nuclear deterrent. That could take many forms

The alliance has three to four years to adopt AI and new tech

The alliance has three to four years to adopt AI and new tech

Donald Trump’s resentful, show-me-the-money approach to statecraft is catching on

How criminal innovators are mastering synthetic drugs, AI, the dark web and drones

No, Donald Trump’s Putin-wooing is not like Nixon going to China

An independent army, air force and nuclear bomb would come at a high price

The country has long relied on America for security and China for its prosperity. Those two pillars are wobbling

How Donald Trump’s about-turn in Europe will affect Asia

Europe has been left scrambling after an attack on the partnership that kept the peace for nearly 80 years

Seventy countries have recently backed “all Chinese efforts” to take the island

China is weaponising its supply chains, but risks blowback if it goes too far

If Trump convinces partners that the post-1945 order really is dead, things will get ugly

Yet it is facing a growing backlash from religious conservatives and some feminists

Washington hawks puzzle over calls for China to help in Ukraine, and hints of a possible TikTok reprieve

The economics make sense, but the geopolitics are nerve-racking

But sceptics are wrong to call America First business as usual

After a ceasefire in Gaza, they may continue their Red Sea racket

China buys lithium, copper and bull semen, and doesn’t export its ideology

Bullying foreigners can be sadly effective, but also a dangerous distraction

Trump’s Pentagon pick wants women off the battlefield

The growing effectiveness of air-defence systems could blunt the West’s most powerful weapons

Lessons from a 17th-century thinker on preventing crimes against humanity

Technology is transforming cattle farming, but not fast enough

Globalisation and technological progress are leading to a boom in organised crime

This year’s negotiations made very modest progress

New data show a shockingly high proportion of courses are a waste of money

Finland’s cold-war past offers urgent lessons for Ukraine’s future

The world’s bad actors will relish any power vacuum

A dozen officials offer tips on the dangerous art of Trump-flattery

Rumours of its rapid demise have been greatly exaggerated

Donald Trump’s re-election accelerates a crisis for globalisation

From Ukraine to Israel there is a frantic scramble to flatter and sway Donald Trump

A new poll of 30,000 people worldwide has some surprising results

The BIS ditches a new payments platform the Kremlin wants to mimic

The old order is dying. Our geopolitics columnist will tell you what’s coming next

If you thought its freezing icescapes would escape a world on fire, think again

He hopes this week’s BRICS summit will spark a sanctions-busting big bang

Russia is enacting a revolutionary plan of sabotage, arson and assassination

Half the world has had elections so far this year

The rulers of China, Iran, North Korea and Russia are growing worryingly close

Russia and China are riding a surge of support for the Palestinians since the Gaza war started