Foreign Policy | the Global Magazine of News and Ideas

Don’t Blame Sykes-Picot for the Middle East’s Mess

The focus on the century-old accord is a product of bad history and shoddy social science -- and it’s surely not the cause of the region's dysfunction.

Steven A. CookSteven A. Cook is the Eni Enrico Mattei senior fellow for Middle East and Africa studies at the Council on Foreign Relations and is the author of the upcoming book Thwarted Dreams: Violence and Authoritarianism in the New Middle East.

Argument

How Steel City Became the Front Line in America’s Cyberwar

Blending gumshoe investigations with high-tech research, Pittsburgh has become a hotbed of the Justice Department’s fight against international hackers.

Elias GrollElias Groll is a staff writer at Foreign Policy, covering cybersecurity, privacy, and intelligence.

Report

TTIP Must Die So the West Can Live

Free-market evangelists say the U.S.-EU trade deal is essential to the future of transatlantic diplomacy. But dangerous economics could unravel centuries of partnership.

Tokyo’s Governor Spent a Crazy Amount of Government Money on Overseas Trips

Tokyo Governor Yoichi Masuzoe held a press conference Friday to defend spending government money on lavish trips, resort hotels, and expensive art.

U.S. Navy Officer Sacked Over Iran Incident

The Pentagon relieved a commander who was in charge of the river boats that strayed into Iranian waters in January. It could be the first of several such punishments.

Podcasts

The E.R.

Examining Sy-raq

For this week’s discussion on Syria and Iraq, The E.R. team asks "Is the worst yet to come?"
The E.R.

Should Britain Stay, or Should It Go?

With the U.K. on the verge of saying “piss off” to Brussels, the great European democratic project hangs in the balance.
The Backstory

An Abandoned Daughter Returns to China

Editors Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian and David Wertime talk to Jenna Cook about how the quest to find her birth mother captivated China — and why she finally decided to write her…
Global Thinkers

How to Build a Media Industry from Scratch

From telenovelas to Sesame Street, 2013 Global Thinkers Noura al Kaabi and Saad Mohseni debate the importance of cultural imports in a localized entertainment industry.
The E.R.

Is Brazil the Chicago of Latin America?

We shouldn’t be surprised that Brazil — and other countries in the BRICS — is dealing with the stumbles and falls of an emerging economy. Meaningful progress takes decades.
The E.R.

Defending Donald Trump … Again?

Why playing devil’s advocate with the Republican front-runner’s rhetoric eventually leads back to the source of the problem — Washington.
Global Thinkers

Why Migrants Can No Longer Be Considered Society’s “Fringe”

2015 Global Thinker Tobias Zielony and writer Anna Badkhen debate how the West stereotypes—to dangerous effect—the Global South.
The E.R.

Not to Defend Donald Trump, but…

Why the contentious presidential candidate may not be wrong about how to negotiate on foreign policy. Maybe.