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Beijing’s first official response to overcapacity criticism doesn’t just reject the claims. It defends China’s manufacturing dominance as the natural result of global economic history, not a policy problem, Mary Gallagher writes.
Beijing Still Doesn’t Think Overcapacity Is a ProblemChina’s first official response to industrial overcapacity allegations assails its critics and defends its position as the “world’s factory.”www.worldpoliticsreview.comThe Iran war was a rare opportunity for the Gulf Cooperation Council to deepen cooperation. Instead, it threw the bloc’s internal divisions into sharper relief, leaving its future relevance in question.
The Iran War Gave the GCC a Chance to Unite. It Chose Not toThe conflict has only exposed deep tensions within the bloc, which only look set to harden, weakening its potential leverage.www.worldpoliticsreview.comFour years after being extradited to the U.S. on drug trafficking charges, former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández is home again after a pardon from Donald Trump—and is already rebuilding his old political machine, WPR columnist James Bosworth (@bloggingsbyboz.bsky.social) writes.
Hernández’s Return to Honduras Tees Up a Presidential Power StruggleHonduras’ controversial former leader is expected to get involved in politics again, putting President Nasry Asfura in a tough spot.www.worldpoliticsreview.comPresident Trump’s new civilian nuclear deal with Saudi Arabia could pave the way for the kingdom to build its own bomb. The agreement, Adam Gallagher argues, is a symptom of the pathologies that have shaped U.S. Middle East policy for decades.
The U.S.-Saudi Nuclear Deal Is a Symptom of Middle East Policy DelusionsThe fate of the agreement may be up in the air, but it was motivated by pathologies that have perverted U.S. Middle East policy for decades.www.worldpoliticsreview.comFor the first time, China’s government has directly answered years of criticism over industrial overcapacity. The response is a defense, not an admission, Mary Gallagher writes.
Beijing Still Doesn’t Think Overcapacity Is a ProblemChina’s first official response to industrial overcapacity allegations assails its critics and defends its position as the “world’s factory.”www.worldpoliticsreview.comThe Gulf Cooperation Council has long been held together by fear of a shared threat rather than by institutional integration. The Iran war exposed how thin that unity really is, revealing an alliance in name more than in practice, Jonathan Fenton-Harvey writes.
The Iran War Gave the GCC a Chance to Unite. It Chose Not toThe conflict has only exposed deep tensions within the bloc, which only look set to harden, weakening its potential leverage.www.worldpoliticsreview.comHonduran President Nasry Asfura needs the political network built by his predecessor and fellow National Party leader Juan Orlando Hernández to govern. He also cannot afford to be seen embracing a man convicted of taking cartel bribes and accused of stealing an election.
Hernández’s Return to Honduras Tees Up a Presidential Power StruggleHonduras’ controversial former leader is expected to get involved in politics again, putting President Nasry Asfura in a tough spot.www.worldpoliticsreview.comWhen Iran retaliated against its Gulf neighbors during the war with the U.S. and Israel, it handed the Gulf Cooperation Council a rare chance to unite. Instead, the bloc chose the opposite path, exposing divisions that are only set to harden, Jonathan Fenton-Harvey writes.
The Iran War Gave the GCC a Chance to Unite. It Chose Not toThe conflict has only exposed deep tensions within the bloc, which only look set to harden, weakening its potential leverage.www.worldpoliticsreview.comJuan Orlando Hernández's return to Honduran politics after a U.S. pardon sets up a collision course with President Nasry Asfura, whose governing coalition depends on the very networks Hernández built.
Hernández’s Return to Honduras Tees Up a Presidential Power StruggleHonduras’ controversial former leader is expected to get involved in politics again, putting President Nasry Asfura in a tough spot.www.worldpoliticsreview.comThe spread of Chinese AI models with built-in censorship mechanisms could quietly shape the global information environment for the worse.
The Global Danger of China’s State-Controlled AI ModelsThe spread of Chinese AI models with built-in censorship mechanisms could quietly shape the global information environment for the worse.www.worldpoliticsreview.comA great power orders; it isn’t ordered. By that standard, @profpaulpoast.bsky.social argues, Britain doesn’t qualify anymore.
No, the U.K. Is Not a Great PowerThe U.K. still aspires for greatness, but it no longer plays any major agenda-setting role in global security affairs.www.worldpoliticsreview.comSome argue Chinese AI models’ political bias can simply be retrained away since they’re open-weight. But even a stripped-down version of DeepSeek kept repeating Beijing’s line on Taiwan and Xinjiang in its Chinese-language answers.
The Global Danger of China’s State-Controlled AI ModelsThe spread of Chinese AI models with built-in censorship mechanisms could quietly shape the global information environment for the worse.www.worldpoliticsreview.comFrom Ukraine to the Middle East, Britain keeps showing up but rarely leading. That’s not what a great power looks like, @profpaulpoast.bsky.social writes.
No, the U.K. Is Not a Great PowerThe U.K. still aspires for greatness, but it no longer plays any major agenda-setting role in global security affairs.www.worldpoliticsreview.comNorth Korea built its nuclear arsenal in secret and has kept its dictatorship intact for decades. Iran built more openly and has endured economic collapse and military strikes. The contrast, @fridaghitis.bsky.social writes, is shaping how other regimes weigh the risks of going nuclear.
The Iran War’s Lessons for AutocratsThe Iran war and uncertainty over the U.S.-Saudi nuclear deal are prompting other regimes to reassess the risks and rewards of pursuing nuclear weapons.www.worldpoliticsreview.comCritics argue the Cockroach Janta Party focused too narrowly on ousting a single minister rather than pushing for the deeper institutional reforms needed to outlast a single news cycle. Its future as a political force in India may hinge on which argument wins out.
Can India’s Cockroach Movement Become a Lasting Political Force?The youth-led Cockroach Janta Party grew from an online satire into a movement that forced a rare government concession. But its next chapter remains unclear.www.worldpoliticsreview.comBritain still styles itself a great power. But columnist @profpaulpoast.bsky.social argues that title no longer fits—London isn’t setting the agenda in any of today’s major security crises. Read more here:
No, the U.K. Is Not a Great PowerThe U.K. still aspires for greatness, but it no longer plays any major agenda-setting role in global security affairs.www.worldpoliticsreview.comChinese AI models don’t just censor sensitive topics, they subtly reshape how people understand events like Taiwan and the war in Ukraine, Yaqiu Wang (@yaqiu.bsky.social) writes. As these models spread worldwide, that could quietly reshape the global information environment.
The Global Danger of China’s State-Controlled AI ModelsThe spread of Chinese AI models with built-in censorship mechanisms could quietly shape the global information environment for the worse.www.worldpoliticsreview.comThe Iran war and uncertainty over the U.S.-Saudi nuclear deal are prompting other regimes to reassess the risks and rewards of pursuing nuclear weapons, @fridaghitis.bsky.social writes.
The Iran War’s Lessons for AutocratsThe Iran war and uncertainty over the U.S.-Saudi nuclear deal are prompting other regimes to reassess the risks and rewards of pursuing nuclear weapons.www.worldpoliticsreview.comLagos records show delivery-related traffic collisions crashes climbing year over year, part of a broader surge as delivery apps expand rapidly across one of the world’s most dangerous cities for drivers. Damilola Ayeni reports for WPR from Lagos:
Traffic Crashes Are Surging in Nigeria. Delivery Platforms Are Part of the ProblemNigeria’s booming delivery industry is leading to an alarming rise in fatal crashes by pushing drivers to meet aggressive deadlines.www.worldpoliticsreview.com