The World Isn't Ending

In 1803, then-President Thomas Jefferson dispatched James Monroe and Robert Livingston to France. Their mission was simple: Buy New Orleans and West Florida from Napoleon.

When Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, one of Moscow’s assumptions was that European energy dependence on Russia would prevent the EU and its member states from supporting Ukraine’s defense. Moscow assumed wrong.

Shortly after Hamas’s brutal attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, a group of Yemeni militants who call themselves Ansar Allah, Helpers of Allah, launched attacks on Red Sea shipping in solidarity.

When Germany changes, the world changes. Over the weekend, a German political party called Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) won a major victory in the state of Saxony-Anhalt. AfD won 43.8% of the vote, improving on its 2021 result by 23 percentage points. Three other parties, all various shades of far left, took 22.3% between them.

Stalemate is not an option. The costs will be felt.

What happens next is simple to name and hard to measure.

The United States will reportedly be telling other countries they must pick sides in the artificial intelligence race with China.

China is making considerable and rapid progress.

50,000 people, 48 hours. How did this happen?

US-Mexico border cities are primed for explosive growth.

What happens in Hormuz does not stay in Hormuz.

I had intended to write about Japan today, with 10-year JGB yields hitting 2.9% last week—the highest since September 1996—and the yen hanging around a 40-year low of 162 to the dollar.