The Best of 2016

Best of 2016 January/February 2016 Comment

Equality and American Democracy

The U.S. Founders thought liberty and equality went together, but by the mid-twentieth century, most Americans thought of them as competing values. Thought of properly...

Danielle Allen

Robert Lindneux’s 1942 The Trail of Tears.

Best of 2016 March/April 2016 Essay

Fight or Flight

The next U.S. president will face a difficult choice in the Middle East: do much more to stabilize the region’s ongoing conflicts, or disengage altogether. Both...

Kenneth M. Pollack

Houthi fighters patrol the main street of Sadah, Yemen, June 2015. The Saudis have taken the stunning step of directly intervening in Yemen’s civil war.

From the Archives May/June 2016 Comment

Russia's Perpetual Geopolitics

For centuries, Russia has been haunted by geopolitical ambitions that exceed its capabilities. President Vladimir Putin’s recent attempts to secure Moscow a prominent...

Stephen Kotkin

A portrait of Peter the Great by Hippolyte (Paul) Delaroche, 1838.

Best of 2016 May/June 2016 Essay

Making America Great Again

There has been a relentless campaign over many decades to delegitimize the stronger U.S. government that did so much good earlier in the twentieth century. Americans...

Jacob S. Hacker and Paul Pierson

A federally funded road project, part of U.S. President Barack Obama's stimulus package, in Colorado, May 2009.

From the Archives July/August 2016 Comment

The End of the Old Israel

The progressive version of Israel that captured the world’s imagination is over. Under Netanyahu, Israel has become more religious, less tolerant, and less democratic.

Aluf Benn

People wave flags at a convoy transporting the body of an Israeli woman killed in the recent violence between Israelis and Palestinians, near Efrat, a Jewish settlement in the West Bank, January 2016.

Best of 2016 July/August 2016 Essay

The Case for Offshore Balancing

The United States should forgo efforts to remake other societies and concentrate on preserving U.S. dominance in the Western Hemisphere and countering potential...

John J. Mearsheimer and Stephen M. Walt

The amphibious assault ship USS Iwo Jima on the Hudson River in New York, May 2011.

Best of 2016 July/August 2016 Essay

The Truth About Trade

Attacks on U.S. trade policy have grown so intense during the presidential campaign that they threaten the future of U.S. global economic leadership. The U.S. economy...

Douglas A. Irwin

A container ship enters New York Harbor, November 2015.

Best of 2016 November/December 2016 Interview

France’s Next Revolution?

A Conversation With Marine Le Pen

Marine Le Pen, the leader of France’s National Front, talks to Foreign Affairs about the rise of populism across Europe, the threat of Islamic fundamentalism, and why she supports Donald Trump.

Best of 2016 November/December 2016 Comment

Populism on the March

Donald Trump’s candidacy is part of a broad populist upsurge throughout the Western world. Economic stasis and rapid cultural change have provoked a backlash across...

Fareed Zakaria

Storming the gates: refugees at the Greek border, February 2016.

Best of 2016 November/December 2016 Comment

Populism Is Not Fascism

Today’s right-wing populists share some instincts with the fascists of the interwar period, but the political environments of the two eras are too different to compare...

Sheri Berman

Donald Trump at a rally in Lakeland, Florida, October 2016.

Best of 2016 Mar 28, 2016 Snapshot

Wealthier World, Poorer Nation

The world as a whole is better off than ever before, and yet inequality within countries is getting worse.

Jack Goldstone

Best of 2016 Mar 29, 2016 Snapshot

Lone Wolves No More

In the wake of ISIS' attack in Brussels, after years of worrying about so-called lone wolf terrorism, it turns out that the really dangerous terrorists are thick as...

Jytte Klausen and Alexandra Johnson

A Belgian soldier stands guard on a road leading to Zaventem airport after the attacks last week in Brussels, Belgium, March 29, 2016.

Best of 2016 Apr 19, 2016 Snapshot

Watching American Democracy in China

Depending on the eventual outcome of the election and its long-term impact, the Trump phenomenon may change how the Chinese think about democracy.

Eric X. Li

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton attends a news conference at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, September 5, 2012.

Best of 2016 Jul 18, 2016 Snapshot

The Apocalypse in U.S. Political Thought

With the promise of a raucous Republican National Convention this week, Americans can expect Trump to double down on catastrophic despair and redemptive hope.

Alison McQueen

Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks at a rally at the Nugget Casino Resort in Sparks, Nevada, February 23, 2016.

Best of 2016 Aug 22, 2016 Letter From

America's Misguided LGBT Policy

U.S. promotion of LGBT rights in the Middle East is provoking backlash against the people it is trying to help.

Aaron Magid

Best of 2016 Aug 30, 2016 Snapshot

Debunking Microenergy

Microfinance, microenterprise, and microenergy are no substitute for industry, infrastructure, and grid electricity.

Ted Nordhaus, Shaiyra Devi, and Alex Trembath

Workers walk along wires as they inspect newly-built electricity pylons above crop fields in Chuzhou, Anhui province, China, July 9, 2015.

Best of 2016 Sep 26, 2016 Snapshot

The New Dictators

Highly personalized leader regimes are coming to the forefront of political systems across the globe

Andrea Kendall-Taylor, Erica Frantz, and Joseph Wright

A participant wears a sticker with the word

Best of 2016 Oct 10, 2016 Snapshot

A Westphalian Peace for the Middle East

Why the Peace of Westphalia, which helped end a series of bloody wars in seventeenth century Europe, could work for the Middle East today.

Michael Axworthy and Patrick Milton

Best of 2016 Nov 7, 2016 Snapshot

A Tale of Two Statues

Putin’s loyalty to his subordinates most sharply distinguishes him from the popular idea of the Russian ruler, who is supposed to be kind to ordinary folk but tough on...

Alexander Baunov

The statue of Vladimir the Great in Moscow, November 2016.

Best of 2016 Nov 15, 2016 Snapshot

Global Trumpism

The global revolt against elites is not just driven by revulsion and loss and racism. It’s also driven by the global economy itself. The era of neoliberalism is over....

Mark Blyth

Foreign Affairs Anthology Series