World Politics Review

Xi’s Military Purge Makes War Over Taiwan More Likely Turmoil at the senior echelons of China’s military make U.S.-China communication even more difficult and increase the risk of miscalculation.

With the purge of China’s highest-ranking military officer, it is clear that Xi now dominates the People’s Liberation Army in a way that other recent Chinese leaders have not. What does that mean for Taiwan?

Europe’s IRGC Sanctions Show It’s Learning to Fight a Gray-Zone War Europe is countering gray-zone competition with legal clarity about covert networks that prop up autocracy and enable military aggression.

In designating the IRGC—Iran’s powerful elite military force—a terrorist organization, the EU chose not to debate U.S. force projection it cannot shape.

Instead, Europe is acting where it does have leverage: law and finance.

America Can’t Rebuild Its Sea Power Without Asia’s Shipyards Without industrial cooperation with Japan and South Korea, U.S. naval expansion in the Indo-Pacific will remain a pipe dream.

Without industrial cooperation with Japan and South Korea, U.S. naval expansion in the Indo-Pacific will remain a pipe dream.

Will Trump’s Pressure Campaign Bring Cuba to the Table? Just because Cuba has no remaining allies doesn’t mean oil sanctions will cause the government to collapse. But it may negotiate.

Just because Cuba has no remaining allies doesn’t mean oil sanctions will cause the government to collapse. But it may be willing to negotiate.

Xi’s Military Purge Makes War Over Taiwan More Likely Turmoil at the senior echelons of China’s military make U.S.-China communication even more difficult and increase the risk of miscalculation.

Turmoil at the senior echelons of China’s military will make U.S.-China communication even more difficult and increase the risk of miscalculation, Mary Gallagher writes.

Europe’s IRGC Sanctions Show It’s Learning to Fight a Gray-Zone War Europe is countering gray-zone competition with legal clarity about covert networks that prop up autocracy and enable military aggression.

In designating the IRGC—Iran’s powerful elite military force—a terrorist organization, the EU showed that it recognizes what is necessary to counter gray-zone competition, Candace Rondeaux writes.

🚨After being a World Politics Review contributor for several years, last week marked my debut as a monthly columnist!

Check out my first column below👇🏾

America Can’t Rebuild Its Sea Power Without Asia’s Shipyards Without industrial cooperation with Japan and South Korea, U.S. naval expansion in the Indo-Pacific will remain a pipe dream.

President Trump’s recently unveiled plan for a “Golden Fleet” clarified Washington’s ambition to expand U.S. naval power.

What it did not resolve is the constraint on doing so: industrial capacity.

Will Trump’s Pressure Campaign Bring Cuba to the Table? Just because Cuba has no remaining allies doesn’t mean oil sanctions will cause the government to collapse. But it may negotiate.

Economic misery remains unlikely to cause the Cuban government to collapse. But while history shows sanctions don’t cause regime change, they can achieve more modest goals, James Bosworth (@bloggingsbyboz.bsky.social) writes.

America Can’t Rebuild Its Sea Power Without Asia’s Shipyards Without industrial cooperation with Japan and South Korea, U.S. naval expansion in the Indo-Pacific will remain a pipe dream.

Without industrial cooperation with Japan and South Korea, U.S. naval expansion in the Indo-Pacific will remain a pipe dream, Jeffrey M. Voth writes.

Will Trump’s Pressure Campaign Bring Cuba to the Table? Just because Cuba has no remaining allies doesn’t mean oil sanctions will cause the government to collapse. But it may negotiate.

Just because Cuba has no remaining allies doesn’t mean oil sanctions will cause the government to collapse.

But as James Bosworth (@bloggingsbyboz.bsky.social) writes, it may be willing to negotiate.

Carney’s Speech Is What Happens When a Hegemon Goes Rogue If the U.S. is no longer as benign an actor as was previously believed, it might be time for its allies to consider balancing behavior.

If the U.S. is no longer as benign an actor as was previously believed, it might be time for its allies to consider balancing behavior.

Africa Needs a Collective Response to Trump’s ‘Transactional Dominance’ By competing individually for Trump’s favor, African states are sacrificing their collective leverage precisely when it matters most.

By competing individually for Trump’s favor, African states are sacrificing their collective leverage precisely when it matters most.

Carney’s Speech Is What Happens When a Hegemon Goes Rogue If the U.S. is no longer as benign an actor as was previously believed, it might be time for its allies to consider balancing behavior.

Lacking an outside power with which to balance against the U.S., middle powers will seek to bolster their ability to balance against Washington on their own.

Africa Needs a Collective Response to Trump’s ‘Transactional Dominance’ By competing individually for Trump’s favor, African states are sacrificing their collective leverage precisely when it matters most.

“With each individual state competing for the Trump administration’s attention and favor, Africa’s collective leverage is fragmenting precisely when it matters most,” @lesleyannewarner.bsky.social writes.

Carney’s Speech Is What Happens When a Hegemon Goes Rogue If the U.S. is no longer as benign an actor as was previously believed, it might be time for its allies to consider balancing behavior.

If the U.S. is no longer as benign an actor as was previously believed, it might be time for its allies to consider balancing behavior, @profpaulpoast.bsky.social writes.

Africa Needs a Collective Response to Trump’s ‘Transactional Dominance’ By competing individually for Trump’s favor, African states are sacrificing their collective leverage precisely when it matters most.

By competing individually for Trump’s favor, African states are sacrificing their collective leverage precisely when it matters most, @lesleyannewarner.bsky.social writes.

To Stay Relevant in 2026, the U.N. Must Look Outward The U.N. has an opportunity to return to its true mission: preventing great-power confrontation from escalating into World War III.

If the U.N. is to survive this year intact, it will need to stop fixating on its own internal reforms and refocus on the core purpose for which it was created: preventing great-power confrontation from escalating into World War III.

Thailand Gears Up for an Unusually Consequential Election The progressive reformist People’s Party is surging in the polls, but if it wins, it could provoke a standoff with the pro-monarchy establishment.

Ahead of Thai elections, the progressive reformist People’s Party is surging in the polls. But if it wins, it could provoke a standoff with the pro-monarchy establishment.

The Nigerian Roots of Trump’s ‘Christian Genocide’ Narrative Attributing the salience of the “Christian genocide” narrative to American actors downplays the claim’s deep roots in Nigeria’s history of religious conflict.

Attributing the salience of the “Christian genocide” narrative to American actors downplays the claim’s deep roots in Nigeria’s history of religious conflict, Chris O. Ògúnmọ́dẹdé writes.

Syria’s Kurds Are Now at the Mercy of Damascus Sharaa has successfully isolated Syria’s Kurds, who are now set to lose their autonomy and much of their ability to defend themselves.

Sharaa has successfully isolated Syria’s Kurds, who are now set to lose their autonomy and much of their ability to defend themselves, @fridaghitis.bsky.social writes.

America’s Digital Empire Has a Trust Problem One year into Donald Trump’s presidency, foreign nations are increasingly skittish about their dependence on U.S. tech companies.

America's digital empire has a trust problem. U.S. hyperscalers' future may depend less on the commercial deals they strike and more on their commitment to protect the democracy that made their global dominance possible. My latest for @wpr.bsky.social
www.worldpoliticsreview.com/us-hyperscal...

Thailand Gears Up for an Unusually Consequential Election The progressive reformist People’s Party is surging in the polls, but if it wins, it could provoke a standoff with the pro-monarchy establishment.

Amid surging support for the progressive reformist People’s Party, Thailand’s upcoming snap elections, scheduled for Feb. 8, are shaping up to be a watershed moment for the kingdom.

To Stay Relevant in 2026, the U.N. Must Look Outward The U.N. has an opportunity to return to its true mission: preventing great-power confrontation from escalating into World War III.

The U.N. has weathered inefficiencies and funding crises before. What it cannot survive is irrelevance in the face of great power confrontation, Adam Day writes.

Trump’s National Defense Strategy Means ‘America Alone’ Unlike past iterations of the NDS, the Trump administration’s strategy alienates ties with allies and partners instead of strengthening them.

Unlike past iterations, the Trump administration’s recently released National Defense Strategy alienates traditional U.S. allies and partners rather than strengthening ties with them.

Carney’s ‘New World Order’ Isn’t So New The Canadian premier’s remarks falsely assume that U.S. buy-in is required to uphold the existing world order.

Canadian PM Mark Carney’s remarks in Davos last week, while laudable, falsely assume that U.S. buy-in is required to uphold the existing world order.

Thailand Gears Up for an Unusually Consequential Election The progressive reformist People’s Party is surging in the polls, but if it wins, it could provoke a standoff with the pro-monarchy establishment.

Ahead of Thai elections, the progressive reformist People’s Party is surging in the polls. But if it wins, it could provoke a standoff with the pro-monarchy establishment, Joshua Kurlantzick writes.

To Stay Relevant in 2026, the U.N. Must Look Outward The U.N. has an opportunity to return to its true mission: preventing great-power confrontation from escalating into World War III.

If the U.N. is to survive this year intact, it will need to stop fixating on its own internal reforms and refocus on the core purpose for which it was created: preventing great-power confrontation from escalating into World War III, Adam Day writes.

Trump’s National Defense Strategy Means ‘America Alone’ Unlike past iterations of the NDS, the Trump administration’s strategy alienates ties with allies and partners instead of strengthening them.

The Trump administration’s National Defense Strategy prepares the armed forces to fight the ghosts of the past rather than meet the challenges of tomorrow, Ana Janaina Nelson writes.

Carney’s ‘New World Order’ Isn’t So New The Canadian premier’s remarks falsely assume that U.S. buy-in is required to uphold the existing world order.

Canadian PM Mark Carney is right to push back on the United States under Trump. But the inference that doing so requires building a new world order perhaps cedes too much to Trump, @charlicarpenter.bsky.social writes.