China's relationship to the rules-based order is contested

7 experts debate China's role in the future of the rules-based international order

This interactive feature showcases opposing arguments—from scholars who view China as a major threat to the order, to Chinese analyst Wu Xinbo's argument that China will shape the order's evolution rather than destroy it.

Renewed competition between great powers is straining multilateral institutions

This analysis argues that the increasing US-China rivalry is fostering a more contested international environment—where shared rules and institutions are being challenged rather than reinforced.

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.

China's WTO membership produced significant disputes

Two decades after China joined, its trade practices—such as state subsidies, intellectual property disputes, and market access restrictions—have sparked accusations that it has not fully met WTO commitments of free and open trade.

Hear Ray Dalio talk about the growth of the Chinese economy

Dalio was an early advocate of US investment in China. While he has previously criticized the authoritarian regime, his criticism of the government has been labeled mild relative to his praise for economic growth and innovation—critics argue that he has minimized human rights violations in the country.

John Mearsheimer argued that the liberal international order was bound to fail

University of Chicago political scientist John Mearsheimer argued in his influential essay Bound to Fail that expanding liberal democracy and open markets into other great powers' spheres inevitably leads to conflict, and that the liberal order contains the roots of its own collapse.

China's 'One China' principle vs. the US 'One China' policy

The "One China" policy means different things to different people, but in the larger sense there are two primary interpretations: the Chinese and the American versions. Both refer to relations and contact between the mainland People's Republic of China and Taiwan/The Republic of China. This article covers the subtleties and differences between each country's approach to the "One China" principle.

A legal scholar argues that the existing war powers framework may collapse in the event of a major power conflict

The legal tests presidents have used to avoid seeking congressional authorization were designed for weaker adversaries. This piece argues that those tests fail against similarly armed competitors, where even limited strikes risk significant escalation, potentially triggering a constitutional crisis over who has the authority to respond.

Hardline China critics in the US worry that China's Belt and Road Initiative is a Trojan horse for military expansion efforts

The Belt and Road Initiative, initially launched in 2013 to develop trade routes throughout Europe, Asia, and the Middle East, has evolved into a larger infrastructure development initiative in developing countries. The BRI is backed by the Silk Road Fund, which is administered by the two most prominent Chinese sovereign wealth funds.

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.

Trump's 2025 tariffs represent a significant break from the rules-based trade order

The Trump administration imposed broad tariffs on other countries outside WTO rules in 2025, claiming that those countries had long violated trade agreements and that the US was simply leveling the playing field.

Critics argue that the World Bank, IMF, and WTO were designed to serve Western interests

Some analysts from developing nations argue that the Bretton Woods institutions were designed to reinforce Western economic dominance rather than to promote fair development for poorer countries. Supporters respond that these institutions have improved living standards worldwide.

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.

Chinese citizens express both support and frustration toward smart city surveillance

Although surveillance is viewed as necessary for enhancing morality and enforcing regulations, many citizens adopt mental tactics to distance themselves from it. Surveillance is linked to China's historical "century of humiliation," following the Opium Wars and Japanese invasion.

Hear about the secret room where your rights are decided

A court designed to be the least powerful branch became one of the most influential institutions in history. 1440 Explores host Sony Kassam dives inside the Supreme Court of the United States, with help from Yale law professor Akhil Reed Amar, to uncover how it gained extraordinary authority, what really happens behind closed doors, and why its power has become one of the most fiercely contested questions in modern democracy.

This Harvard philosophy professor suggests we should rethink our relationship with animals

Christine Korsgaard, a professor of philosophy at Harvard, wrote a book arguing that humans are not more important than other animals and that we should improve our treatment of them. In her view, we have a duty to value the life of our fellow creatures not just for their utility, but for their existence as sentient and conscious beings.

The US Constitution is widely regarded as the longest-standing written national constitution still in force—see how it has influenced rights worldwide.

China is the world’s largest importer of crude oil

China is pushing to reduce its reliance on US oil to limit geopolitical vulnerabilities. It’s rapidly becoming the world’s renewable energy superpower.

How former President Nixon's visit to China shifted geopolitics

While Richard Nixon may be best remembered for Watergate and the disintegration of his presidency, his visit to China in 1972 stands as a triumph of his administration. Learn about the president's visit to Beijing (then referred to as Peking), his methods and approach, and the subsequent opening of diplomatic ties with China.

How constitutional AI helps cultivate good human values in Anthropic's AI tools

By incorporating elements from documents such as the UN's Universal Declaration of Human Rights into a framework against which it can check its outputs, Anthropic hopes the approach will help Claude operate with good human values and behaviors beyond what human-driven training alone can provide.

A photo story of the Chinese civil war and creation of modern-day China

A deep dive of the twists and turns of China's civil war and how the People’s Republic of China was established, illustrated through restored photographs in color.

Using cryptocurrency to turn traditional financial arrangements on their head

Cryptocurrency is poised to drastically change everything in the financial world, including financial arrangements. Decentralized finance makes it easier for virtually anyone to take advantage of financial markets without the need for a bank. However, there are new risks involved as well. Professor of Legal Studies and Business Ethics Kevin Werbach, an expert on Bitcoin and blockchains discusses it all in detail in The Conversation.

One Chinese businessman controls 70% of the fireworks entering the US

A warehouse explosion in 2008 forced all pyrotechnic shipments to travel through the Shanghai port under three special permits Ding Yan Zhong was given. Since then, he has established a near-monopoly over the global fireworks distribution chain, with logistics and shipping hubs in China and California. (Some users may experience a paywall.)

A Yale student wrote a profound essay about the consulting industry's influence on elite college students that was published in a book of her writing after she died in a post-graduation car accident.

A Yale student wrote a critical essay about the consulting industry's influence on college students

Marina Keegan was a recent Yale graduate set to start her career writing for The New Yorker when she died in a car accident. But before her death, she wrote an essay criticizing the consulting industry's impact on not only her classmates' lives but also their ability to impact the world at large.

'It's those who lie outside ordinary experience who have the most to teach us.'

- Author Malcolm Gladwell (1963 - present)

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

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.

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.'

The rivalry between Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson centered on federalism—the question of how much power the federal government should hold relative to the states.

See a ranking of the best (and worst) Federal Reserve Chairs since 1914 out of the 16 men and women who have held the office since.

Brandi Chastain, the star of the 1999 US victory over China in the 1999 Women's World Cup, was a last-second choice to take the penalty kick that sealed the victory.

The Brothers Grimm were lawyers before they were storytellers, and became interested in fairy tales as they began investigating how rules and customs had been passed down through cultures.

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

The story of Dollree Mapp, whose legal challenge over her 1957 conviction for possessing "obscene material" led to a major strengthening of the Fourth Amendment

Gerrymandering works through two techniques: cracking opposing voters across districts to dilute their power, and packing them into a few to waste their votes in lopsided majorities.

Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps is independent of Iran's regular army and is one of the most powerful and influential military-political organizations in the Middle East.

Chaos theory—informally known as the butterfly effect—is the reason why weather forecasts are presented with probabilities rather than certainties.

Art theft is the third-largest source of criminal revenues worldwide, thanks in part to the subjective nature of valuing a work of art.

Legendary architect Frank Lloyd Wright designed the SC Johnson headquarters in Wisconsin, aiming to make a cathedral-like workplace

US consumers collectively owe more than $1T to credit card companies—almost as much as they owe in auto loans.

Electrical grids worldwide must double their power delivery capacity by 2050 to meet surging demand from AI and electric vehicles.

How Amazon operates a 'flywheel' business model, a self-reinforcing cycle that drives continuous growth

SpongeBob exemplifies Aristotle's philosophy for living well because he understands that happiness doesn't come from external factors like money, recognition, or power.

Artificial coral reefs have been 3D printed from nontoxic, biodegradable terracotta clay, which coral polyps have used as a foundation for rebuilding marine ecosystems.

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

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

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