What in the World?

A Taiwanese crowd protests while waving flags of the Republic of China. U. S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Dan Caine depart following a national ceremony for POW/MIA Recognition Day in Arlington, Virginia, on Sept. 18. Xi (left) and Trump (right) are shown up close, with Xi looking at Trump. Putin and Xi are both seen in profile as Putin walks to the right and away from Xi, just a few feet of space between them. Xi, meanwhile, is also faced away from Putin, standing and looking down at his feet or the red carpet beneath them. Both men wear dark suits. A man wearing a dark suit jacket, light blue button-down shirt, and patterned red tie sits on a dark gray couch against a textured dark blue wall. He is looking off to the side with a mild smile, next to a teal pillow. The Twilight of the Francis Fukuyama Era By Jeremi Suri An illustration in red and blue tones depicting five silhouetted figures running forward through a dark corridor flanked by large, textured Russian lettering on the walls and floor. Light radiates from the far end of the tunnel behind them U. S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping after a welcome ceremony in Beijing. A statue of a seated, bearded man with a bare torso and draped cloth around his waist, holding a scroll in one hand, positioned in front of a row of large classical columns. Negotiators from the United States, Canada, and five European countries converse after finishing the draft of the North Atlantic Treaty in Washington on March 18, 1949. Trans-Atlanticism Isn’t Dead—It’s Being Renegotiated By Alexandra de Hoop Scheffer An aerial photo shows Doha in the booming petrostate of Qatar. Energy War Ramps Up Two men seated in armchairs on a stage reach toward each other to shake hands. The man on the left wears a dark suit, light shirt, and tie, leaning forward while holding a microphone in his left hand. The man on the right wears a long-sleeved black polo shirt and black pants, holding a microphone in his left hand while extending his right hand to complete the handshake. Large double doors and architectural details are visible in the background. The Plan to End the Ukraine War Trump’s diesel-deal feud with Zelensky obscures a more important effort.