Asia

Smuggled and Forged: The Houthis’ Shadow Economy

In 2025, the U.S. re-designated the Houthis as terrorists, but their shadow economy of forged passports and smuggled money endures.

A Golden Triangle: ASEAN Takes a Positive Angle

Three economic titans controlling $1 trillion in trade are meeting in Malaysia to prove that cooperation beats confrontation amidst Trump's trade war.

MENA-Asia Tourism Boom: Europeans Want Sophistication, Not Just Bling

Global trade tensions are reshaping tourism as Asia and the Middle East pivot to attract high-spending, experience-driven Europeans.

A Salacious Scandal at the Heart of the FBI

FBI agents paid for sex while training others to fight trafficking in Asia—scandal sparks outrage and fuels Trump’s calls for reform.

Recognition: A Similar Fight for Survival

Taiwan and Somaliland face diplomatic isolation but thrive as strategic trade hubs. Explore their fight for recognition and global impact as Trump weighs up U.S. policy in the region.

Popular

Ageing Societies Slow Science’s Edge

Ageing societies do not only strain pensions and healthcare. They may also make science less bold, less disruptive, and more incremental over time.

Strategic Autonomy: How the UAE Chose to Self-Arm

Under real Iranian missile fire, the UAE learned that state security cannot be outsourced, and it has kicked off the Gulf's most ambitious arms build-up.

Idlib to Bamako: The Real Differences in Jihadist Power

Africa’s jihadist groups are gaining territory and pressure, but they still lack the cohesion, legitimacy, and state collapse that made HTS’s seizure of Damascus possible.

British Safety Laws: Chat Control to Crowd Control

Britain's child safety legislation is quietly turning into a tool against digitally-triggered communal violence, with big implications for privacy and power.

France’s Trust Crisis Moves Upward

Three stories in a single week, a murdered child, a pop icon charged with rape, and a former mayor appealing his blackmail conviction, are not the same scandal but they are feeding the same mood in France.