Allison Meakem
associate editor @foreignpolicy.com and U.S. columnist @zeit.de’s Spotlight magazine. say hi: allison.meakem@foreignpolicy.com 🤸🏻♀️
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- I reviewed the new English translation of Finnish author Iida Turpeinen's bestselling novel, "Beasts of the Sea." It's an elegy to species lost amid the endless spiral of human greed.
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- My October fiction pick is Jaquira Díaz's "This Is the Only Kingdom," a sweeping, multigenerational novel set between the projects of Humacao, Puerto Rico, and Miami Beach.
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- For FP's September fiction column, I reviewed Lao-Canadian writer Souvankham Thammavongsa's debut novel, "Pick a Color."
- For context on Germany's historic decision to halt offensive weapons exports to Israel, I highly recommend @isaliba.bsky.social's February piece in @foreignpolicy.com, where he explicitly called on Berlin to take this step.
- FP's August fiction column is all about the dog days of summer! I reviewed @laurengrodstein.bsky.social's "A Dog in Georgia," a novel that remains smile-inducing even as it toggles from terriers to tear gas.
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- Today in @ccosborn.bsky.social's Latin America Brief: After punishing Brazil for Bolsonaro's trial, the Trump administration has expressed outrage over the conviction of another right-wing ally this week in Colombia.
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- I reviewed @rubenwrites.bsky.social's magnificent debut novel, "Archive of Unknown Universes," where he sends his characters on an adventure through a quasi-multiverse to explore alternate outcomes of El Salvador’s 1972-92 civil war.
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- Maciej Kisilowski and Anna Wojciuk, professors who have worked in Hungary and Poland, argue that Harvard and other prestigious U.S. universities may have to move abroad to protect their values. Their piece has only become more relevant today with Jim Ryan's resignation at UVA.
- Yousef Munayyer argues that Trump's unrealistic demand for zero Iranian enrichment has made war—and eventual U.S.-backed regime change—an inevitability.
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- I reviewed Nigerian writer Esther Ifesinachi Okonkwo's debut novel, "The Tiny Things Are Heavier." Set between Iowa and Lagos, this book has it all: Romance, family drama, dark academia, travel, and crime.
- The "naming and shaming" human rights strategy hasn't kept major international hotel chains from expanding their operations in China's Xinjiang province, @peterirwin.bsky.social and @henrykszad.bsky.social write.
- Mexico is set to hold its first-ever judicial elections on Sunday following a controversial judicial reform that AMLO pushed through during his lame-duck period last year. Emiliano Polo argues that the overhaul will erode due process in the country.
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- Today in @ccosborn.bsky.social's Latin America Brief: It's been a big week for Suriname, which held elections on Sunday and saw its former foreign minister take office as OAS secretary-general.
- ICYMI last week: Ric Grenell and Marco Rubio appear to be duking it out behind the scenes on U.S. Venezuela policy.
- The Gaza Sunbirds paracycling team announced that an Israeli airstrike on Monday killed one of their members, Ahmed Al-Dali. @foreignpolicy.com ran a feature on the Sunbirds and their quest to compete in the Paralympics last September.
- As BRICS expands and the world becomes more volatile, @oliverstuenkel.bsky.social argues that the bloc's three democracies—Brazil, India, and South Africa—should resurrect a long-dormant diplomatic forum to advance their interests.
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- Trump's aid freeze has had particularly drastic impacts in Colombia, which until January relied on U.S. funding to carry out many official government operations—including support for Venezuelan migrants, Christina Noriega reports.
- Former Uruguayan President José "Pepe" Mujica has died at age 89. Our obituary:
- Israel's attacks on Syria risk creating further political instability in Jordan, where a 30-year-old peace treaty with Israel is increasingly on ice, @burcuozcelik.bsky.social writes.
- For our May fiction column, I reviewed Mo Ogdronik's "Gulf," an uncomfortable portrait of a region whose economic allure is undergirded by troublesome social and political realities.
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- Today in @ccosborn.bsky.social's Latin America Brief: Milei's moves to partially float the peso against the dollar are going... surprisingly well so far?
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- Since 2018, incumbents have lost almost all democratic elections in Latin America. Oliver Stuenkel and Margot Treadwell explain how Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa avoided this fate in Sunday's vote.
- Not to be overlooked in the deluge of news we face every day: Kurdish groups in Syria and Turkey have made major inroads toward political integration in recent months, Mashuq Kurt and Bilal Ata Aktas write.
- It's been one month since Trump set out to demolish the U.S. Agency for Global Media. Foreign journalists who worked for U.S.-funded outlets could find themselves persecuted as a result, @liamjscott.bsky.social writes.
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- Lovers of romcoms AND foreign policy: Meet "Liquid." In her debut novel, Mariam Rahmani offers both flitty summer romance and critiques of U.S. sanctions on Iran. My review is in FP's April fiction column!
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- As Canada faces unprecedented territorial and economic threats from the United States, it might find support in its ties to the British monarchy, @johnwlast.bsky.social writes.
- "The American people must be clear-eyed about the prison system to which their government is sending deported migrants—which, in the worst-case scenario, could one day hold U.S. citizens, too," @noahbullock.bsky.social writes in this chilling piece about El Salvador.
- Timely reading in FP today by @katz.theracket.news, as El Salvador receives the first planeloads of Venezuelan migrants Trump has deported from the United States in defiance of a court order.
- Liam was one of the best interns we've ever had at FP. He went on to do amazing things at VOA, which Trump shut down over the weekend. Please take the time to read Liam's powerful post below, and keep him in mind if you're hiring.
- I reviewed Lawrence Wright's upcoming book, "The Human Scale." It's a crime novel set in Israeli-occupied Hebron in the weeks leading up to Oct. 7, 2023.
- A Paraguayan candidate for OAS secretary-general who sought to cozy up to Trump dropped out of the race this week, as countries of all ideological stripes rallied behind his Surinamese opponent, FP's @ccosborn.bsky.social reports in our latest Latin America Brief.
- Stop beating around the bush: Trump's loyalties lie with authoritarians—and "MAGA ideology aligns more closely with Putin’s vision... than with Western liberal democracy," Maciej Kisilowski and Anna Wojciuk write.
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- Well! Speaking of that Trump-Zelensky presser... Latin American countries are experiencing a bit of policy whiplash in response to the United States' sudden embrace of Russia, FP's @ccosborn.bsky.social reports.
- "Uruguay’s democracy is a reminder that political stability is not an accident or an innate cultural phenomenon. It is the result of conscious efforts to build institutions, maintain economic fairness, and cultivate democratic respect," Oliver Stuenkel writes ahead of Yamandú Orsi's inauguration.
- Most reviews of Oscar nominee "September 5" have focused on its depictions of crisis reporting or Israel-Palestine. But I argue that the film offers an equally keen look at German identity formation after World War II, particularly with regard to defense and military readiness.
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- Lots of discourse in German media tonight about the so-called heating law. The Green-backed measure fed discontent with Scholz’s gov and boosted the far right. Now, its future under the CDU is uncertain. I wrote about how the law became such a political lightning rod back in 2023.
- This week in Latin America Brief, by FP's @ccosborn.bsky.social: Trumpworld backs Bolsonaro after Brazil's attorney general charges the ex-president and dozens of co-conspirators with plotting to foment a coup and assassinate Lula, Alckmin, and Moraes in 2022.
- As Trump makes increasingly hostile statements toward Kyiv, @fabricedeprez.bsky.social checked in with Ukrainian troops on the front lines in Kramatorsk and Lyman. The vibes? Not great.
- "Germany should acknowledge that it bears a historical responsibility to Jewish people everywhere, rather than to Israel—a state." Required reading by @isaliba.bsky.social.
- In honor of Valentine's Day, my @foreignpolicy.com coworkers and I binge-watched reality dating shows from around the world. (Yes, really.) Here's a gift link to our roundup of everything from the pan-African "Bae Beyond Borders" to "The Bachelor: Ukraine" 💖
- FP's February fiction column is out! I review Aria Aber's "Good Girl," which follows the daughter of Afghan refugees as she immerses herself in Berlin's underworld.
- FP has put together a roundup of reactions to Trump's announcement that the United States would "take over" Gaza and ethnically cleanse Palestinians from the territory. It's well worth a read.
- As Trump ramps up his aggression toward Latin America, governments in the region may look to balance their relations with the United States in favor of other international partners, including China, Oliver Stuenkel writes.
- In this week's Latin America Brief, FP's @ccosborn.bsky.social reports on Trump's threats toward Mexico—and how Sheinbaum is responding.
