Peter Frankopan

What happens if we tell global history from Asia's perspective?

This week, @peterfrankopan.bsky.social joined @holland-tom.bsky.social on our bonus episode to discuss precisely this, available exclusively to members of The Rest Is History Club.

Japan sets new internet speed world record — 4 million times faster than average US speeds A team of scientists in Japan shattered the record for the fastest internet speed by developing new fiber optics.

Already being hassled about this by our children....

www.livescience.com/technology/c...

Don McCullin’s photographs tell us about wealth ancient and modern Peter Frankopan writes that little has changed since high-ranking Romans’ obsession with beauty and status symbols

"The obsession with looking beautiful is of course not unique to Rome, but as the Instagram generation understand well, it can be oppressive to be bombarded by images of other people in peak physical condition." #AIEthics By @peterfrankopan.bsky.social.
www.ft.com/content/f529...

Thanks Josh 🙏🙏🙏

Don McCullin’s photographs tell us about wealth ancient and modern [FREE TO READ] Peter Frankopan writes that little has changed since high-ranking Romans’ obsession with beauty and status symbols

Wonderful essay by @peterfrankopan.bsky.social in the new FT Wealth about Don McCullin's photos of Roman sculptures on.ft.com/3U3C1RS

As all good letters should be

China, Russia and the ‘Dragon-Bear’ embrace The partnership seeks to build a new world order along the route of the old Silk Roads. But, asks Peter Frankopan, is this bond as close as it seems?

What a stat in this @peterfrankopan.bsky.social essay:

“the state based on Moscow grew by an estimated 55 square miles per day after the Romanovs took the throne in 1613 up to the start of the 20th century”

🙏🙏🙏

Excellent essay by @peterfrankopan.bsky.social

Measuring Our Relationship With Nature: A New Way to Think About the Future It’s not every day that a paper proposes a new metric that might reshape the way we think about the future of the planet.

I've also just written a post about this on another platform - that you can read here
peterfrankopan.substack.com/p/measuring-...

An aspirational approach to planetary futures - Nature The Nature Relationship Index offers a new way to measure and engage human aspirations to shape a better future for people and all life on Earth.

I have been lucky to be part of a stellar group, including incredible scholars like @erleellis.bsky.social @hannahritchie.bsky.social @ymalhi.bsky.social and many more that has just had this paper published in @nature.com

Just as the Human Development Index reshaped global ideas of progress, the NRI could do the same for our place in the biosphere.

It’s a work in progress. But this is a powerful step toward reimagining development, justice, and our shared future.

Why does this matter now?
🔹 Climate anxiety is rising
🔹 Biodiversity is crashing
🔹 “Limits” language often disempowers

But people want clean air, green space, and healthy ecosystems.
The NRI starts from aspiration - not fear. A metric that motivates, not paralyses.

#SustainableFuture

The NRI complements the Human Development Index (HDI), but shifts the focus:
Not just how well are people doing?
But how well are people and nature doing together?

Three core dimensions:
🌱 Nature is thriving and accessible
🧑‍🌾 Nature is used with care
⚖️ Nature is safeguarded

What if we measured progress not just by income or life expectancy - but by how well we live with the rest of nature?

A major new paper proposes the 'Nature Relationship Index (NRI)' - a bold rethink of development metrics.

Here’s why it matters.👇
#NatureRelationshipIndex #GlobalThreads

That’s a lovely thing to say; thank you !

🙏🙏🙏

Very proud to be part of a stellar group of scholars and practitioners and this groundbreaking proposal to establish a global index that puts nature at the heart of human progress. 👇

Some thoughts on Iran One week in.

What hasn't happened in Iran in the last 8 days is as important as what has.
Some thoughts
open.substack.com/pub/peterfra...

World’s Largest Kazakh Headdress Unveiled in Pavlodar - The Astana Times World’s Largest Kazakh Headdress Unveiled in Pavlodar

Top news
astanatimes.com/2025/06/worl...

8th July | Peter Frankopan – The Past, Present, and Future of the World Taking us from antiquity to Trump’s America, Xi Jinping’s China, the verge of nuclear war in several parts of Asia, Peter Frankopan reveals what history tells us about the future of humankind.

Crisis Iran. Disaster in the Middle East. Confrontation between India & Pakistan. No end to Russia & Ukraine. China. Competition in Central Asia and the Indo-Pacific. Want to know what they have in common ? Come and find out on 8 July (Spoiler alert: #SilkRoads)
howtoacademy.com/events/peter...

A new world order is being forged – and Iran holds the key It would seem that the Iranian leadership is now at a crossroads

Me - on Iran - and the new world order

inews.co.uk/opinion/a-ne...

Strong look.

The writer's bookshelf: Peter Frankopan Eight questions about writers, books, and reading…

New on the Writer’s Bookshelf: eight questions about writers, books, and reading with the brilliant @peterfrankopan.bsky.social
open.substack.com/pub/mathewly...

The Sting?

BBC headline: Group backed by Judi Dench takes over North Yorkshire nature site.

Why are they reporting it like it's a paramilitary coup?

Washington: 250 million honeybees escape overturned truck in US Master bee-keepers are called to the scene after a truck containing 70,000 pounds of active honey bee hives flipped over.

Pretty sure I've seen this film

www.bbc.com/news/article...

Hahaha ! 🏏🏏🏏

Ancient India at the British Museum review — were these deities really so benign? The exhibition traces how religious imagery took hold in South Asia and beyond through serpent spirits and wide-hipped goddesses

My review of the #AncientIndia exhibition #BritishMuseum for the FT

www.ft.com/content/3250...

Steel, Satellites, and Strategic Shifts: North Korea’s Year of Setbacks and Alignments On the morning of 21 May 2025, a sleek new warship slid off the ramp at North Korea’s Chongjin Shipyard and into disaster.

For more - see here (and please follow me on another exciting new platform!)

open.substack.com/pub/peterfra...