‘The Kingdom … does not seek escalation’
Briefing: Saudi Arabia’s first strikes on Iranian militias, while pushing the U.S. to end the war. A Russian cruise missile in a Polish field, 100 kilometers over the border. + Can Europe’s booming defense industry save its dying factories?
Cars before drones
Feature: Can Europe’s booming defense industry save its dying factories? Sander Tordoir on the battery supply chain weapons orders alone can’t pay for.
Arms and the man
Briefing: Why the U.S. is buying its attack drones from Ukraine. A pause in its bombing of Iran, over the objections of Israel’s prime minister. + Why can’t the Pentagon make what Ukraine makes?
Keeper of the gate
The weekend despatch: In Seoul, a bet against borrowing intelligence from Silicon Valley. Off East Africa, a new volcano’s time capsule from the origin of the Earth. + What is sacred steel?
Truce after truce
Briefing: War spreads to the Red Sea. Sanctions hit the Russian stock market. + Has politics really killed the humanities in America?
Humboldt’s gift
Feature: Has politics really killed the humanities in America? Chad Wellmon on a red herring in public debate about the universities—and what you see when you start following the money.
‘No more elections here’
Briefing: In Nicaragua, why an 80-year-old president is clearing the way to hand power to his wife. In Iran, the truce the regime is secretly pushing for—and still swears it doesn’t need. + Why hasn’t Ukraine collapsed into autocracy?
To the victor …
The weekend despatch: In Budapest, the machinery of the old order, handed to the people who ran against it. A 25-kilometer crater in the Quebec bush that no one noticed for 390 million years. + How rare are creative multi-hyphenates in Hollywood?
All in favor
Briefing: An election the U.S.-installed government in Caracas has agreed to hold—and would rather not. Russia’s grain and Ukraine’s ports, each in the other’s sights. + Why have buildings gotten so ugly?
The language of beauty
Feature: Why have buildings gotten so ugly? Samuel Hughes on a status game that’s been playing out in contemporary architecture—and how elite taste may be starting to turn.
