International | Newsletter

The War Room newsletter: Is American diplomacy all bark, no bite?

Russian President Putin shakes hands with US special envoy Witkoff in St. Petersburg, Russia.
Photograph: EPA

This is the introduction to The War Room, a weekly, subscriber-only newsletter bringing exclusive insights into defence and security.

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A worker places plastic bottles in the assembly line

Plastics are greener than they seem

Even if the world needs to become much better at managing their waste

An illustration of Donald Trump wearing sunglasses and a red tie flying in the wind, riding a chopper motorcycle with an American flag helmet on the back of the seat and clouds of exhaust fumes coming from the bike. Behind him Xi Jinping can be seen standi

Xi Jinping’s Trump-sized puzzle

For all its strength and swagger, China is struggling to handle an impulsive America


Illustration of an open robot head revealing a multi-level office space inside, where people work at desks with computers, surrounded by bookshelves

There is a vast hidden workforce behind AI

Will they become redundant as the technology develops?


The dangers of Donald Trump’s instinct for dealmaking

Trade wars are alarming, but so are might-makes-right deals

State capture is a growing threat. Reversing it is hard

The 15-70-15 rule and other ways to prise powerful fingers from the public coffers