Much of the Global South responded to the Russia-Ukraine war by pursuing a strategy of 'active nonalignment'

Many countries remained neutral after Russia's invasion of Ukraine

Following Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, few nations outside the West imposed sanctions on Moscow. Major powers such as China, India, Brazil, and Turkey remained neutral, underscoring global divisions over how to confront Russian aggression.

Proponents argue that abandoning the rules-based order risks a return to the chaos that led to 2 world wars

Brookings scholar Robert Kagan warns that if China and Russia gain regional dominance, the world could return to the unstable conditions of the late 19th century—the same chaos that led to two devastating world wars.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine accelerated fractures in the rules-based international order

This piece examines how the Ukraine conflict intensified underlying divisions in the global order—between Western democracies and the Global South, and between rule-of-law norms and great-power politics.

Post-WWII decolonization in Africa led to Cold War proxy conflicts

As newly independent African nations emerged after World War II, the US and USSR vied for influence—backing opposing sides in civil wars and revolutions. Conflicts in Angola, Ethiopia and Mozambique became proxy fronts in the Cold War.

Some experts argue that Russia was never effectively integrated into the rules-based order after 1991

This piece argues that Russia's difficult relationship with the IMF and World Bank in the 1990s—characterized by economic shocks and perceived Western condescension—helped shape Moscow's later hostility toward the liberal order.

Defining the use of 'Third World' in geopolitics

The term "Third World" is mostly out of use today for its limiting connotations, but in light of a reordering of geopolitical alliances amid the Ukraine war, historians are reevaluating the term's usefulness. Read the history of the term starting from the 1950s, and learn what several experts claim about its contemporary efficacy.

The world is shifting from unipolarity toward a multipolar order

The post-Cold War world was briefly unipolar after 1991, with the US standing alone as a global superpower following decades of US-Soviet bipolarity. Analysts increasingly describe today's order as multipolar, with China, Russia, the US, and regional powers all competing for influence.

The BRICS development bank was created as an alternative to Western-led institutions

Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa founded the New Development Bank in 2015, clearly positioning it as a counterbalance to the World Bank and IMF—and a way for middle powers to influence global economic governance.

Anonymous' war against Russia

Anonymous has been waging a cyber war on Russia for invading Ukraine. CNBC takes a look at how effective the collective’s six main strategies have been.

The Monroe Doctrine was designed to keep Europe out of the Americas

First articulated in 1823 by President James Monroe, the doctrine declared the Western Hemisphere off limits to European colonization. It has since been invoked to justify US military interventions in Latin America, from Teddy Roosevelt's takeover of Venezuela to George H.W. Bush's arrest of Panama's leader Manuel Noriega.

Hear how the world reacted to the American Civil War

European nations closely watched the Civil War for its economic and political consequences. Some European nations quietly engaged diplomatically with the Confederacy but withheld recognition. When the Union made slavery's abolition a central cause, European public opinion turned sharply against the South.

Relationships between countries have become more peaceful since the rules-based order was established

Our World in Data monitors bilateral relationships on a spectrum from open rivalry to "positive peace"—deep cooperation and mutual protection. In 1945, no countries had highly cooperative security relationships. Today, nearly a fifth do.

Modern Ukraine—caught between Europe and Russia

"Ukraine" has been translated by some scholars as meaning "borderlands". Indeed the country lies perfectly between Europe and Russia, while hosting a diverse collection of people of differing languages, cultures, and ethnicities, feeling affinity for those on the other sides of the country's borders. This article explores how this affects the actions and reactions of Ukrainians during the current conflict.

Testing assumptions about the war in Ukraine, one year later

Two years ago, policymakers in Washington made multiple predictions about the course of the war between Russia and Ukraine. One year later this site revisited several common assumptions about the war—for example, that Russia would swiftly defeat Ukraine—and asks several experts if they came true, or not. But things can always change.

Russia armed and backed separatists in Eastern Ukraine while denying involvement

Throughout the Donbas conflict, Russia covertly supplied weapons, training, and troops to separatist forces in eastern Ukraine, even as the Kremlin publicly denied direct involvement in the fighting.

The US and the USSR each boycotted Olympic Games during the Cold War

The US led a boycott of the 1980 Moscow Olympics over the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. In retaliation, the USSR and its allies skipped the 1984 Los Angeles Games.

Questions about the US' commitment to its allies may have sparked a new nuclear age

Some US allies—from Warsaw to Seoul—are reevaluating their security amid doubts over American nuclear commitment, signaling the possibility they may want to acquire their own weapons.

The Russia-Ukraine conflict is the largest ground war in Europe since World War II in casualties, forces mobilized, and displacement of civilians.

Why is the Black Sea region strategically important?

This commentary is the first in a series of essays that examine the strategic significance of the Black Sea region to the US and NATO.

Members decide to what extent they respond to an attack on an ally

The NATO constitution is intentionally vague about what exactly is required from its members. Explore the historical debates and learn more about common misconceptions about NATO’s common defense clause.

Since its founding, Palantir has refused to sell its software to China or Russia

In line with the founding principle of supporting Western institutions, Palantir has vowed to not share its technology with companies or government agencies in China and Russia—which Palantir frequently calls the West's largest threats.

Tech giants like SpaceX and Meta are increasingly behaving like sovereign powers

Companies now make unilateral decisions once reserved for nation-states, such as controlling satellite internet access in active war zones and influencing global information flows. Lawmakers and the international order are struggling to keep up with technological developments, let alone regulate them.

An interactive map tracking conflict in the Middle East

Conflict and peace in the Middle East are constantly in flux. Decision-makers need up-to-date developments – both within individual countries and across the greater MENA region – to identify trends and risks of violence, and opportunities for...

As of 2022, Canada has the most planned critical mineral mines

Wealthy nations are tapping into their domestic critical mineral reserves and buying up mines in poorer countries. The US, the UK, Canada, Australia, and China are taking the lead, with Chinese operations spanning all continents except Antarctica.

'Too often we participate in the globalization of indifference. May we strive instead to live global solidarity.'

- Pope Francis (1936 - 2025)

Presidents from both parties have resisted the authority of the War Powers Act

Presidents from both parties have treated the War Powers Resolution as voluntary, framing compliance as seeking "support" rather than "permission." Courts have declined to rule on the law's constitutionality each time a related case was brought before them.

Cultural norms about how to handle the bodies of loved ones in communities in West Africa have hampered Ebola responses.

The United States is one of only around two dozen countries with a fully federal system of government, in which power is divided between national and state governments.

The US dollar is the most widely circulated currency in the world, and is involved in nearly 90% of global transactions

While El Niño moves warm Pacific Ocean waters east along the equator, La Niña moves them west, shifting where rainfall will become more common for months.

The United States has had a tumultuous relationship with Cuba since its 1959 revolution, highlighted by a nuclear crisis and a decades-long trade embargo.

Before humans, the Soviet Union and the United States sent animals—including apes, dogs, and cats—to space during the Space Race.

Play the role of a student in a game where you try to navigate college and remain debt-free, selecting different income levels, high school experience, race, ethnicity, and more.

In 2018, 26-year-old missionary John Allen Chau was killed by tribesmen after attempting to reach and evangelize on India's isolated North Sentinel Island

In 2025, four executives from large tech companies were given positions in the US Army Reserves—including Palantir Chief Technology Officer Shyam Sankar, which reinforced Palantir's ties with the US military and its role as a leading defense partner.

Sunflowers have long been a symbol of nuclear disarmament because they can extract large amounts of radioactive cesium from soil.

NBA superstar Victor Wembanyama spent the 2025 summer training with monks in central China to enhance his body and mind.

During the French Revolution, a botanist's letter asking about "dear Rhus" (poison ivy) was intercepted, leading authorities to suspect he was conspiring with the Russians.

Famed poet TS Eliot rejected the manuscript for George Orwell's political fable 'Animal Farm,' writing that its criticism of authoritarianism was not 'the right point of view.'

Warren Buffett's former professor Benjamin Graham is known as the 'father of value investing,' a strategy in which investors seek to buy stocks trading below their intrinsic worth.

Some researchers have labeled nomophobia, the fear of being without your phone, as 'the phobia of the 21st century.'

Most of the observable universe's volume consists of voids and supervoids—enormous regions of space with little to no galaxies, stars, or light.

Some renewable energy sources may weaken the resiliency of electric grids by removing outage buffers provided by coal- and natural gas-fired plants, which provide the system with more time to find a new power source if a plant goes down.

Hookworm infection, though risky, may help fight certain autoimmune conditions by tamping down the immune system's inflammatory response.

The identity of the Tank Man in the iconic photo from the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests remains unknown and was possibly killed.

Abraham Lincoln was almost assassinated weeks before his inauguration as he traveled from Illinois to DC through Baltimore in 1861; it took two independent claims for Lincoln to be convinced the threat was real

Explore an interactive map built from more than 100,000 survey responses on where people find joy in their lives

For centuries, it was common to sleep in two shifts: a few hours at the beginning of the night, and a longer period beginning around midnight

Quincy Jones' 'Big Band Bossa Nova' helped introduce bossa nova—a jazz-influenced Brazilian genre—to the US

Watch how deep-sea mining equipment collects and processes polymetallic nodules—metal-rich, potato-shaped rocks—from the ocean floor and creates environmentally damaging plumes of sediments.