The world this week

The world this year 2023
KAL’s cartoon
This week’s cover
Leaders


Cooler heads, calmer words
How to detoxify the politics of migration
Doom-mongers on both the left and the right are wrong

Maritime mayhem
The US Navy confronts a new Suez crisis
Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping threaten global trade

A dismal year for the dismal science
Economists had a dreadful 2023
Mistaken recession calls were just part of it

The centre can hold
The Economist’s country of the year for 2023
It is possible to enact painful economic reforms and still get re-elected

Santa tech
Technology is helping Santa Claus come to town more efficiently
A letter to shareholders of Father Christmas Global Inc

Letters

On investment in Europe, Napoleon, funeral cars, spy novels, euphemisms, flying lawn chairs
Letters to the editor
Asia


Shunting the junta
China is backing opposing sides in Myanmar’s civil war
Off track
Why are Indians shunning the country’s shiny new metro lines?
Baby-making
How to entice Japanese couples to have babies
China


Xi-3PO
China’s quest to become a robot superpower
Democrat in the dock
The unfair trial of Jimmy Lai begins in Hong Kong
Chaguan
Why China’s rulers fear Genghis Khan
United States


Christmas delayed
A majority of congressmen want more military aid for Ukraine
Jersey sure
Newark may have found a fix for chronic homelessness
The fais do do
Louisiana Creole is enjoying a modest revival
Lexington
Why Donald Trump is gaining ground with young voters
Middle East & Africa


Piracy and peace
Attacks on shipping threaten to upend peace talks in Yemen
Hostage to hell
Israel isn’t sure what to do about the hostages in Gaza
Cancelling Christmas in the Holy Land
The plight of Christians in Bethlehem and Jerusalem predates the latest Gaza war
A nightmare within a nightmare
A supposed haven in Sudan falls to a genocidal militia
A barely governable country
For Congo’s next president, winning may be the easy part
The Americas


A constitutional quagmire
For a second time Chileans reject a new constitution. Now what?
Money down the train
The Mexican president’s latest boondoggle officially opens

Europe


The blue queen
The head of the hard-right Alternative for Germany is riding high
Rough draft
Ukraine’s army is struggling to find good recruits
French style
Why French women no longer wear high heels
How to fund it
Europe is struggling to find the money
Charlemagne
At Christmas, Europeans look less united than ever
Britain


The second city
The parable of Andy Street, the mayor for the West Midlands
The power of recall
How British voters remove misbehaving MPs
Hair today
The British army mulls allowing beards
Bagehot
Inside the banter-industrial complex
Christmas Specials


In kob we trust
On safari in South Sudan, one of the world’s most dangerous countries
Make America Godly Again
Many Trump supporters believe God has chosen him to rule
Wine and climate
Global warming is changing wine (not yet for the worse)
Life does not stop
How five Ukrainian cities are coping, despite Putin’s war
Free speech, gay rights and waterfowl
A tale of penguins and prejudice is a parable of modern America
Following Fatimah’s sandals
What the journey of a pair of shoes reveals about capitalism
The economics of technology
A short history of tractors in English
Beside the seaside
Millions of Chinese are venturing to the beach for the first time
I’m a celebrity...Get me out of here!
How the young Winston Churchill escaped from a prisoner-of-war camp
The price of a whale
Where capitalism and conservation meet
From star to power
Why Tamil movie heroes become politicians
Women and DIY
Why more women are picking up power tools
The green man’s burden
What responsibilities do individuals have to stop climate change?
Pacific pathfinders
The best sailors in the world
How to find your way in the Pacific
Oceania’s wayfinding skills
Cereal killer
The life-giving, death-dealing power of corn
Desert island dismal science
Why economists love “Robinson Crusoe”
Missiles and lies
The truth about the passenger jet Putin’s men shot down
A rush for colourless gold
Meet the boffins and buccaneers drilling for hydrogen
Rosemont, Illinois
Inside the last true political machine in America
Hollywood and AI
AI is stalking the last lions of Hollywood
Business


4,000 terabits under the sea
Big tech and geopolitics are reshaping the internet’s plumbing
Seeking independence
How an ugly marital feud could change Indian business
Straitened out
Attacks on shipping in the Red Sea are a blow to global trade
Bartleby
The return of The Economist’s agony uncle
Schumpeter
Can anyone bar Europe do luxury?
Finance & economics


From the ruins
Which economy did best in 2023?
Lost half-decade
Hong Kong’s problems trace back to China. And also America
Love the sinner
Can the carbon-offset market be saved?
Buttonwood
Why bitcoin is up by almost 150% this year
Free exchange
Where does the modern state come from?
Science & technology


Robotics
Delivery robots will transform Christmas
Palaeovirology
Reviving ancient viruses can help fight modern ones
Flying in a flash
A new type of jet engine could revive supersonic air travel
Culture


Holiday history
“’Twas the Night Before Christmas” turns 200 this year
Back Story
Holding out for a hero in 2024
World in a dish
For a Christmas drink, eggnog does not have a heartwarming history
Economic & financial indicators

Indicators
Economic data, commodities and markets
Obituary


The comfort of apples
Eric Freeman hoped to save the Gloucestershire of old