The Israeli government is claiming it is about to formally annex more of the West Bank, while the world is distracted. How the PLO/PA responds will be driven not only by international and bilateral factors, but also by institutional weaknesses within the party.
Really important look at how China has become the new head of the UN’s FAO, how it got the job, and what the implications are.
In-depth investigation into how EU agricultural subsidies are used, and misused.
Part of a massively in-depth New York Times reporting project about the impact and legacies of slavery in the US, this article lays out how the massive plantations not only fuelled the entire American economy, but also developed and deepened many institutions and norms of modern capitalism.
The fact that China often considers many economic structures of the global financial system to be discriminatory is no longer news. What is worth noting, however, is how a Chinese system of assigning credit rankings to financial institutions may also have the potential to create political impacts too.
There’s rather a lot of authoritarianism going around lately. In case you were interested in some specific techniques, check out:
Fascinating fieldwork by a female American journalist on what the Taliban is up to now: acting increasingly as a government-in-waiting. More importantly, one that is seen as increasingly legitimate by swathes of Afghans.
Useful in-depth analysis of exactly how Burundi continues to (violently) unravel, and exactly what the stakes are as this political and military crisis continues.
Guyana has landed on an oil bonanza, and many of its people, both in high office and in everyday life, are more worried than elated.
Fascinating exploration of how women are reshaping everything – politics, fighting, and gender roles broadly – in northern Syria, in the Kurdish-majority enclave in Rojava.
Small World 