The world this week

Politics
Business
KAL’s cartoon
This week’s cover
Leaders


China’s foreign policy
The world according to Xi
Even if China’s transactional diplomacy brings some gains, it contains real perils

The great balancing act
Central banks face an excruciating trade-off
They have to choose between financial instability and high inflation. It wasn’t meant to be that way

French reform
The trouble with Emmanuel Macron’s pension victory
The way a wise policy was forced through will have political costs

Green protectionism
How the EU should respond to American subsidies
Instead of imitating them, it should play to its strengths

Not like that, minister
The machinery, structure and output of the British state need reform
From productivity to the public services, the case for change is clear

Storm forming
As video games grow, they are eating the media
The games business has lessons for other industries and for governments

Letters

On Poland’s war claims, South Africa, the Republicans, “The Simpsons”, the four-day week, Singapore, work training, the OECD
Letters to the editor
By Invitation


Iraq, 20 years on
Kori Schake on how America has moved beyond the debacle of the Iraq war
Russia
Russia’s reliance on China will outlast Vladimir Putin, says Alexander Gabuev
Briefing


Intransigence mixed with emollience
Iran wants a detente with its neighbours but not with America
A swooning economy and popular unrest notwithstanding, it is sticking to its nuclear programme
Asia


Asian geopolitics
Fear of China is pushing India and Japan into each other’s arms
The hungry people’s republic
North Koreans are at growing risk of starvation
Oh Darling
Millions of dead fish are washing up in Australia
Banyan
Russian arms have fewer takers in South-East Asia
China


Nothing bad to see here
China wants the world to forget about its crimes in Xinjiang
Freedoms and failures
China may face more embarrassment over its human-rights record
The origins of covid-19
China has not done enough to halt the wildlife trade
Bring our bears home
Chinese nationalists are up in arms over the treatment of pandas
Chaguan
The revealing appeal of China’s cheapest city
United States


Stormy whether
The cases against Donald Trump are piling up
Breaking news
Spring break is an economic nightmare for the hottest host cities
An Apache battle
A fight in Arizona over sacred land and a mine raises big issues
Delta veld
White South African farmers are thriving in Mississippi
Quantifying hatred
Anti-Semitism in America is becoming flashier, louder and rarer
Generational divide
Younger Americans are friendlier to China
Lexington
How the Iraq war became a threat to American democracy

Middle East & Africa


The flickering Shia crescent
Shia Muslims are no longer in the ascendant
The wreckage of Iraq
After 20 years of trauma, Iraq is struggling to recover
Not now, son
A dictator and his entitled son are holding Uganda captive
Age gaps and infection
New drugs may protect girls having sex with older men from HIV
The Americas


NAFTA 3.0
The Americas face a historic opportunity. Will the region grasp it?
Europe


A win that feels like a loss
Emmanuel Macron’s government survives, but more trouble lies ahead
Remote-control war
Ukraine is betting on drones to strike deep into Russia
Land of cold wars
Finland has Turkey’s approval and can at last join NATO
Hohenzollern rehab
The Kaiser’s family accepts it will not get all its stuff back
Charlemagne
The cucumber Saudis: how the Dutch got too good at farming
Britain


Rolls-Royce no more?
The machine that runs Britain’s state needs an overhaul
End of the clown show?
“Honest” Boris Johnson looks done for
A party turned upside down
The race to succeed Nicola Sturgeon has plunged the SNP into turmoil
Ill met
Louise Casey says the Met is institutionally misogynistic
Trap for the NHS
The British government attempts to take on the NHS’s workforce problems
Bagehot
Editing Roald Dahl for sensitivity was silly
International


Peacemaker or provocateur?
What does Xi Jinping want from Vladimir Putin?
Special report


Insert coin
Ready, player four billion: the rise of video games
Distribution
Battles over streaming break out for video games
Mouse, keyboard, action
Moviemaking and gamemaking are converging
Spectator sports
The rise and rise of e-sports
Censorship
Complexities of moderating and classifying video games
Geopolitics
Video games, power and diplomacy
User-generated content
The rise of user-created video games
The future
How digital gaming spreads far and wide
Business


Social media
How TikTok broke social media
Big law in India
India loosens restrictions on foreign lawyers
No Yeezy answers
Can Adidas ever catch up with Nike?
Caution is a headwind
Every setback is an opportunity for Ryanair
A digital gold mine
The real next big thing in business automation
Bartleby
How to get flexible working right
Schumpeter
What Barbie tells you about near-shoring
Finance & economics


The roar gets nearer
Policymakers face two nightmares: stubborn inflation and market chaos
Don’t unleash the zombies
How much longer will America’s regional banks hold up?
Back in black
Switzerland’s new megabank is bad news for Swiss bankers
Buttonwood
Why markets can never be made truly safe
Following the herd
The battle for Europe’s economic soul
Free exchange
America’s banks are missing hundreds of billions of dollars
Science & technology


Private fusion
Fusion power is coming back into fashion
Culture


The parable of Lamu
A museum on a Kenyan island glosses over slavery
Fake it to make it
“Ringmaster” is a colourful biography of a wrestling impresario
World in a dish
When in Mexico City, try pulque, a local tipple
A teenager’s tail
The narrator of “Chlorine” longs to escape her human body
Inside the GDR
“Beyond the Wall” adds depth to caricatures of East Germany
Back Story
A bold “Guys & Dolls” holds lessons for the future of theatre
Economic & financial indicators

Indicators
Economic data, commodities and markets
Graphic detail


New platforms, old habits
Online daters are less open-minded than their filters suggest
The Economist explains


The Economist explains
How Belarus’s role in the invasion of Ukraine could grow
The Economist explains
How remittances affect a country’s development
Obituary


Good vibrations
Jacqueline Gold freed women to shamelessly enjoy themselves