Flash Points
Themed journeys through our archive.
![A ship is seen cutting through a fast icy landscape.](https://foreignpolicy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/us-icebreaker-arctic-8230206.jpg?w=800?quality=90)
Inside the Battle for the Arctic
What to know as great-power politics heat up in the High North.
![Rows of cars are lined up next to a large blue and green ship.](https://foreignpolicy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/China-EV-exports-GettyImages-2152583326.jpg?w=800?quality=90)
Why Is the West’s EV Industry So Far Behind China’s?
Reads on the geopolitics of electric cars.
![A small group of protesters hold signs in support of Mikheil Saakashvili. In front of them is a larger sign depicting Georgian Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili and Russian President Vladimir Putin.](https://foreignpolicy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/georgia-russia-georgian-dream-GettyImages-1247339276.jpg?w=800?quality=90)
How Putin’s War Is Transforming Ukraine’s Neighbors
Moscow has tightened its grip in Eastern and Central Europe.
![A man in an orange shirt is shown from the back walking past a metal fence with campaign posters.](https://foreignpolicy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/French-election-2024-GettyImages-2158623614.jpg?w=800?quality=90)
What to Know as France Goes to the Polls
FP’s essential stories on the French election.
![Mark Rutte gestures with both hands, his mouth open, as he sits behind the wheel of a car as reporters with microphones and video cameras swarm the vehicle, some of them sticking microphones through the open drivers' side window. Rutte wears a dark suit and tie with sunglasses.](https://foreignpolicy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Mark-Rutte-NATO-GettyImages-1525045838.jpg?w=800?quality=90)
Inside the Minds of Global Power Brokers
A collection of our recent profiles, from Mark Rutte to Claudia Sheinbaum.
![mcdonalds-war-apocalypse-golden-arches-theory-friedman-conflict-nicolas-ortega-FF_01](https://foreignpolicy.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/mcdonalds-war-apocalypse-golden-arches-theory-friedman-conflict-nicolas-ortega-FF_01.jpg?w=800?quality=90)
Is Peace Still Attainable?
Experts once thought globalization would ensure peace. Now, they’re looking elsewhere.
![Lithuanian pianist Darius Mazintas plays music by Ukrainian composer Valentin Silvestrov, on Mount Kremyanets in Izyum, Kharkiv region.](https://foreignpolicy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/ukraine-music-GettyImages-1245599174.jpg?w=800?quality=90)
How Foreign Policy Shapes Music Around the World
From the United States to Ukraine, music has influenced—and been influenced by—international politics.
![A photo collage illustration shows Russian President Vladamir Putin walking with a shadow cast before him on a red field. In front of him is the crown of a Russian tsar and a Soviet-era statue with hammer, sickle, and star.](https://foreignpolicy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/putin-empire-fall-russia-soviet-imperialism-foreign-policy-illustration-HPoverride.jpg?w=800?quality=90)
A New Age of Empires
What makes a modern empire, from Russia to cyberspace.
![Trump points before U.S. flags.](https://foreignpolicy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Trump-2024-election-campaign-GettyImages-2072024089.jpg?w=800?quality=90)
How the World Can Prepare for Trump 2.0
A look at the guardrails that experts say Washington and its allies should consider erecting ahead of time.
![A 19th century engraving depicts the people's uprising in Paris in February 1848.](https://foreignpolicy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/2-revolution-europe-1841-paris-france-GettyImages-164078557.jpg?w=800?quality=90)
Are We Living in a Revolutionary Age?
On the nature of revolutions, past and present.
![An illustration of Chinese leaders jailed for corruption and members of China's military.](https://foreignpolicy.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/suffering-davis-deena-so-oteh-illustration.jpg?w=800?quality=90)
The Art of Propaganda
Are brilliant films and TV shows made in Xi’s China?
![A purple crown with jewels is passed between hands.](https://foreignpolicy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/British-royal-family-GettyImages-1189623117.jpg?w=800?quality=90)
Is the British Monarchy Losing Its Magic?
What the royal photo controversy reveals about changing global culture.
![A farmer dumps waste to block a highway near Vesoul, France, on Jan. 25.](https://foreignpolicy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/GettyImages-1952691831.jpg?w=800?quality=90)
Why Farmers Are Protesting Around the World
From Europe to India, agricultural workers have taken to the streets.
![Investors and associates gather in the London office of the Oman Ghana Trust Fund.](https://foreignpolicy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Anansi-Oman-Ghana-Trust-Fund-book-.jpg?w=800?quality=90)
Inside the World’s Greatest Scams
And how global con artists get away with them.
![A large container ship is shown next to a smaller orange-red ship.](https://foreignpolicy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Red-Sea-attacks-Houthis-GettyImages-1922021094.jpg?w=800?quality=90)
The Roots of the Red Sea Crisis
The Houthi attacks that have rattled global trade are only the latest chapter of the sea’s recent troubles.