By Zongyuan Zoe Liu September 18, 2026 Main Facts In late August 2026, the United States Treasury Department launched what administration officials have aggressively branded as "Operation Economic Outcast," a sweeping financial containment strategy aimed at achieving the total isolation of the Iranian regime. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent dramatically…
By Andrés Velasco Published: September 18, 2026 Section: Politics & World Affairs Main Facts Across multiple continents, the political landscape is undergoing a profound and unsettling transformation. From the corridors of power in Europe to the dynamic republics of Central and South America, far-right political movements have secured unprecedented electoral…
MUNICH — For decades, the Federal Republic of Germany’s political stability rested upon an implicit, highly successful social contract: high-value, precision manufacturing would provide secure, well-remunerated jobs, robust export revenues, and broad-based national prosperity. In turn, stable political institutions would translate these economic dividends into enduring social cohesion. Today, relentless…
By Yemi Osinbajo and Alexander Tsado Published: September 18, 2026 Section: Innovation & Technology Main Facts The global narrative surrounding Artificial Intelligence (AI) is routinely framed as a high-stakes, binary competition between the United States and China. Headlines are dominated by discussions of massive data centers, multi-billion-dollar compute clusters, and…
By Guillermo Ortiz September 17, 2026 MEXICO CITY—For two consecutive years, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has anchored her administration’s economic legitimacy on a single, compelling metric: the dramatic reduction of extreme poverty. Following the ideological and political blueprint of her predecessor and mentor, Andrés Manuel López Obrador (widely known as…
By Filip Milačić, Eli Rau, and Susan Stokes September 16, 2026 VIENNA / CHICAGO Main Facts The political landscape across Western democracies is undergoing a profound and volatile transformation. Radical right-wing parties have made sweeping electoral gains in recent years, systematically capitalizing on public anxiety by linking the complex issue…
By Stephen Holmes Published: September 14, 2026 NEW YORK — At first glance, the rising tide of populist anxiety regarding immigration and the growing community pushback against the rapid expansion of artificial intelligence data centers share a common psychological DNA. Both phenomena reflect deep-seated insecurities about individual and collective agency…
