geopolitics

In “We the People,” Harvard historian Jill Lepore examines how the U.S. Constitution became unamendable and its implications for the health of the democracy.

In this excerpt from “Governing Babel,” John Wihbey explores how AI is reshaping online moderation by offering tools that can help human moderators, but also raises the risk of disinformation and digital chaos.

A firsthand look at China’s material progress and clean-tech revolution — and what could happen if we let an authoritarian state steer AI’s future.

In “On Liberalism,” Cass Sunstein argues that liberalism can only endure if we reclaim its core commitments and revive its spirit of freedom and hope for the future.

The African Union argues that the Mercator projection distorts the continent, both in size and global attention.

The JFK Memorial at Runnymede provides a link between America’s and Britain’s founding documents.

As Beijing encroaches on the territory of the Himalayan kingdom, its ultimate aim is leverage over India.

The veteran economist joins Big Think to unpack the new rules of social media, explain tariffs, and recount his adventures in Albania.

A comparison of wealth gaps in ancient empires reveals stark differences and lasting consequences.

Can you travel by rail from Portugal all the way to Singapore? In theory, yes. In practice? Not so much.

Trump may make America great again — just not in the way he had intended.

In theory, scientists could’ve produced a deadly virus that accidentally infected lab workers. In practice, we know that didn’t happen.

Americans have gone through three historic junctures like what we’re witnessing today — and they happen on an uncanny 80-year cycle.

By weaponizing the global economy, the U.S. initiated a new era of economic warfare and transformed how major powers compete.

“Gyroscope-on-a-chip” technology could soon enable us to navigate over long distances without GPS.

Migration statistics should be regarded with wariness as they are difficult to analyze properly and easily manipulated for political gain.

“It’s only natural for us to get America back,” quipped Kim Kielsen, former prime minister of Greenland, in 2019.

With a flurry of threats to scientists, science funding, and health policy, the USA now faces a crisis reminiscent of Soviet-era Lysenkoism.

“The only requisite for nonfiction is that it’s true,” says Nathan Thrall, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning book “A Day in the Life of Abed Salama.”

New telescopes, radio dishes, and gravitational wave detectors are needed for next-generation science. Will the USA lead the way?

With undersea cables, AI education, and more, the tech giant is helping create Africa’s “digital decade.”

The nation-state had a good run, but its usefulness may have come to an end.

In post-Soviet nations where ministers have a relatively high BMI, corruption tends to be high, too.

A new railway will switch the Baltic region’s train gauge from Soviet to standard European — a megaproject with political, economic, and military dimensions.

The nonprofit made a bold gamble on the limits of “fair use” — and federal courts have not backed their play.

Both nations made missteps, but China still has a chance to make up lost ground.

On November 25, U.N. members will meet in South Korea to cap off a series of meetings aiming to reduce global plastic pollution.

The cat-and-mouse game between China and the world’s semiconductor companies is already having enormous consequences.

In 1980, Willy Brandt drew a line across the map that still influences how we think about the world.

“We are not our grandparents. It’s time to start thinking differently,” journalist Annie Jacobsen told Big Think.