In this prodigiously researched epic, Torigian details the life of Xi Zhongxun—the father of China’s current leader, Xi Jinping—to explain the history of the Chinese Communist Party. Along the way, readers gain a sense of how the younger Xi became the man he is today.
Luce, a gifted storyteller, chronicles the personal life and intellectual journey of former National Security Adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski, who played a significant but underappreciated role in opening the United States to China, bringing the Cold War to an end, and shaping the world that came after. In writing this gem of a book, Luce has rendered a genuine service to history.
Soldatov and Borogon, two Russian journalists, tell the story of their one-time group of friends and colleagues—young Russians who, over the course of the Putin years, steadily drift toward nationalist and illiberal ideas and end up as supporters of Russia’s war in Ukraine.
In this masterful study, Varouxakis tracks the meanings of “the West” from the late eighteenth century to the present—and argues that the modern notion of the term emerged in the 1830s as a way to distinguish western Europe from Russia. Today, for beleaguered countries such as Ukraine, “the West” is still a powerful idea.
David Sacks, the Trump administration’s A.I. and crypto czar, has helped formulate policies that aid his Silicon Valley friends and many of his investments.
President Trump’s social media posts about Venezuela and a former Honduran president demonstrated a dissonance in his campaign against drug trafficking.
Mamdani, a Sharp Critic of Police Surveillance, Will Soon Oversee It
Despite his criticism, Zohran Mamdani, New York’s mayor-elect, has reappointed the police commissioner who helped create a ubiquitous web of monitoring.
Fed Up With the Taliban, Pakistan Expels Masses of Afghans
Labeling Afghans a national security threat, Pakistan has forced out about a million this year, depriving them of a haven from Afghanistan’s turmoil.
Andriy Yermak had ensured internal discipline in Ukraine’s politics for President Volodymyr Zelensky. He also led peace negotiations, which must go on without him.
President Trump’s ever-growing vision has caused tension with contractors. His architect has taken a step back as the president personally manages the project.
The pardon for Juan Orlando Hernández, who prosecutors said had taken bribes from a drug kingpin, would come amid U.S. strikes on alleged cartel vessels in the Caribbean.
How Fraud Swamped Minnesota’s Social Services System on Tim Walz’s Watch
Prosecutors say fraud took root in pockets of the state’s Somali diaspora. President Trump has called attention to the scandal amid his crackdown on immigration.
THE NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE:The 11.30.25 Issue features Emily Bazelon and Rachel Poser on sixty former staff members of the Justice Department; Dennis Zhou on the novelist Solvej Balle; Linda Kinstler on neural implant technology; and more.
Firefighters were trying to fully extinguish the blaze more than 24 hours after it engulfed several towers in the complex. Dozens of people were still missing.
Bitter rows, implacably opposed delegations, threatened walkouts and then, hours after the planned deadline with fear of failure stalking the delegates, a statement towards which recalcitrant countries have been nudged into agreeing is produced. Cop30, which concluded last Saturday in Belém, Brazil, was little different from its recent predecessors, despite the growing urgency of needing to find a solution to our ever hotter planet. For this week’s big story, environment editor Fiona Harvey details how weak consensus was forged between states on the frontline of climate change and the petrostates that sought a rollback from the need to “transition away from fossil” fuels agreed two years ago in Dubai.
Five essential reads in this week’s edition
Spotlight | Is Ukraine edging closer to a peace deal? A whirl of international diplomacy was sparked by a US-Russian authored ‘peace plan’ to end the Ukraine war. Luke Harding and Pjotr Sauer cast a critical eye over the prospects for an agreement.
Spotlight | Trump, Saudi Arabia and shifting Middle Eastern sands Pageantry and trillion-dollar promises reveal how Washington’s regional loyalties may be tilting away from Israel and towards the Gulf, writes Julian Borger
Feature | Is Alex Karp the world’s scariest CEO? His company, Palantir, is potentially creating the ultimate state surveillance tool. Now, Alex Karp’s biographer reveals what makes him tick. BySteve Rose
Opinion | An improbable new adversary for Trump – the Catholic church Inequality, immigration and civil rights are the battlegrounds on which the church – and some other Christian denominations – are fighting the Trump administration, writes Simon Tisdall
Culture | Edmund de Waal’s loose ends The celebrated ceramicist explains to Charlotte Higgins why he turned his decades-long f ixation with Axel Salto – the maker of unsettling stoneware full of tentacle sproutings and knotty growths – into a new show
News, Views and Reviews For The Intellectually Curious
Foreign Affairs Magazine: The very best of the hundreds of books on international politics, economics, and history that were featured in the magazine this year, selected by Foreign Affairs’ editors and book reviewers.
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