The year that shattered the Middle East
The world this week
Leaders
Iran, Israel and the Palestinians
The year that shattered the Middle East
Kill or be killed is the region’s new logic. Deterrence and diplomacy would be better
Too soon to party
Don’t celebrate China’s stimulus just yet
It will take more than a spectacular stockmarket rally to revive the economy
Ishiba Shigeru, gadfly-turned-leader
Socially liberal and strong on defence, Japan’s new premier shows promise
But he must ditch his more eccentric ideas if he is to control his party
Shake up, not break up
Dismantling Google is a terrible idea
Despite its appeal as a political rallying cry
Know a fly, know thyself?
A map of a fruit fly’s brain could help us understand our own
A miracle of complexity, powered by rotting fruit
Letters
On the Cayman Islands, Afghanistan, Turkey, blood donations, private tutors, Britain, sex and Christianity
Letters to the editor
By Invitation
Briefing
On many fronts
The bloodshed in the Middle East is fast expanding
Israel seems certain to retaliate to Iran’s missile attack
The great mistake
What Hamas misunderstood about the Middle East
A war meant to draw in the militant group’s allies has instead left them battered
No common purpose
A year on, Israeli society is divided about the lessons of October 7th
Hawks and doves, religious and secular, right and left—all the old cleavages are resurfacing
The Palestinians’ future
Has the war in Gaza radicalised young Palestinians?
After Gaza, how will the Palestinians try to build their state?
Europe
Not wholly in power
Pedro Sánchez clings to office at a cost to Spain’s democracy
Hoping for better
Ukraine’s Roma have suffered worse than most in the war
In the Wildersness
The Netherlands’ new hard-right government is a mess
Britain
A wartime diaspora
Ukrainians are settling down in Britain. That creates a problem
The wheels of justice
The scourge of stolen bikes in Britain
Burning ambition
Britain’s last coal-fired power station closes
Middle East & Africa
Looking for trouble
A dangerous dispute in the Horn of Africa
United States
Voting and victimhood
Crypto bros v cat ladies: gender and the 2024 election
October surprise
A ports strike shows the stranglehold one union has on trade
Taking the initiative
Many Americans can decide their own policies. What will they choose?
Reinventing the army
The US Army’s chief of staff has ideas on the force of the future
The Americas
A long shadow
Jair Bolsonaro still shapes Brazil’s political right
Everyone’s a winner
Why is football in Latin America so complex?
Asia
The outsider otaku
Japan’s new prime minister is his own party’s sternest critic
An interview with Admiral Tang Hua
China is using an “anaconda strategy” to squeeze Taiwan
Putting the AI in Mumbai
India has a unique opportunity to lead in AI
No longer showing up
America is losing South-East Asia to China
China
The fear of falling
Worries of a Soviet-style collapse keep Xi Jinping up at night
Making a sPLAsh
A missile test by China marks its growing nuclear ambitions
Udder pressure
Why China is awash in unwanted milk
Business
Changing the program
AI and globalisation are shaking up software developers’ world
Pound of flesh
Will America’s government try to break up Google?
If the face is fit…
Workouts for the face are a growing business
Instantaneous consumption
India’s consumers are changing how they buy
Bartleby
What makes a good manager?
Finance & economics
Economic decoupling
Why is Canada’s economy falling behind America’s?
Unaccountable accounts
A tonne of public debt is never made public
Free exchange
Why economic warfare nearly always misses its target
Science & technology
Culture
The stickiness factor
The Malcolm Gladwell rule: how to succeed while annoying critics
Money matters
The best new books to read about finance
Revisiting history
Was Abraham Lincoln gay?
No passing fad
Fashion photography is in vogue
The next big thing
Turn down the K-pop and pay attention to K-healing
The Economist reads
The Economist reads
Books that probe the secrets of the Mossad
Economic & financial indicators
Indicators
