Artificial intelligence is developing rapidly and threatens to transform politics, economics and societies. Experts weigh in on the opportunities and dangers around AI. Read the autumn issue of @TheWorldToday, the international affairs magazine of Chatham House | bit.ly/4cHEn2G |

Donald Trump is trying to undermine the 2026 US midterms in overt ways – primarily by making it harder for Americans to vote. Since returning to office, Trump has been pressing Congress to pass the SAVE America Act, legislation that would require proof of citizenship to register to vote, insist on photo ID to cast a ballot and scale back postal voting. The legislation has passed the House, first in 2025 and then again in 2026, but the Senate has not acted. Read the latest analysis by Bruce Stokes of the 2026 US midterms in the autumn issue of @TheWorldToday. Article | bit.ly/4A7ojS5 |

The challenge of Lebanon's post-war reconstruction is immense. Hezbollah joined the Israeli-Gaza war by launching rockets into Israel, triggering a full-scale Israeli offensive in 2024. Hezbollah's leader Hassan Nasrallah was killed and its forces significantly weakened. Yet Hezbollah launched further rockets into Israel in response to the strikes on Iran earlier this year, causing a second war Israel-Hezbollah war. Many displaced by the 2024 offensive hadn't returned, while others were displaced for a second time in two years. @lemmanour's (@TheNationalNews) writes for the autumn issue of @TheWorldToday on the challenges facing Lebanon and its people. Article | bit.ly/3T34dHS |

Since taking office in 2012, Xi Jinping has consolidated power in China; but it wasn't until his speech on the eve of his second term that Xi defined more clearly ‘the China Dream of National Rejuvenation', with his vision of consolidating the party's control over everything as an instrument for China to forge a ‘common destiny for humankind' by 2050. It set out Xi Jinping's plan to return China to global preeminence. Xi believes such preeminence will emerge if China can pull off a double pivot in its global strategy: establishing its leadership of the Global South and gaining control of Taiwan. The two are inextricably linked with his ambition, ultimately, of transforming the world order. Read Steve Tsang's (@SOAS_CI) latest analysis on China for the autumn issue of @TheWorldToday, the international affairs magazine of Chatham House. Article | bit.ly/4r83SAa |

South Africa has been in the grip of anti-immigrant protests and violence over its winter months, leading to the deaths of four foreign nationals - two Mozambicans, an Ethiopian and a Malawian. Tens of thousands more have been left in fear of their lives and livelihoods. Read Kiri Rupiah's latest analysis on South Africa for the autumn issue of @TheWorldToday, the international affairs magazine of Chatham House. Article | bit.ly/4Adh374 |

"The only question is whether we have to experience a kind of Hiroshima moment to get serious about doing something." In the latest issue of @TheWorldToday, Sebastian Mallaby (@CFR_org), the author of a recent book on Google DeepMind, tells @higginsmike about the urgent need for regulation of artificial intelligence. Article | bit.ly/4718C16 |

"The moment I realized that rape as a weapon of war is not unique to Iraq, I realized that my community was bigger than the Yazidis: it's the worldwide community of survivors of conflict-related sexual violence." Human rights activist and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate @NadiaMuradBasee talks about her journey from a prisoner of ISIS to her global mission to support survivors of conflict-related sexual violence – and why she nearly gave up her campaign. Article | bit.ly/4j4bwJN |

"The Claude Mythos model last April was able to discover vulnerabilities which decades of human scrutiny hadn't unveiled. The OpenAI models autonomously hacked their way out from supposedly secure ‘sandboxes'. We are at this moment of peril." In the autumn issue of @TheWorldToday, Sebastian Mallaby (@CFR_org), the author of a recent book on Google DeepMind, tells @higginsmike about the urgent need for regulation of artificial intelligence. Article | bit.ly/4718C16 |

"Yemen remains one of the least understood countries in the region. Between 2001 and 2008, the conversation was about what Yemen meant to Al-Qaeda. Then it became about Yemen and Iran, and then Yemen and Saudi Arabia, but never a conversation about Yemen itself." For the autumn issue of @TheWorldToday, @almuslimi (@CH_MENAP) discusses his life growing up in Yemen, falling foul of Houthi warlords, and how the Arab Spring changed his life forever. Article | bit.ly/4hx0Kus |

The stakes of these midterms are made higher by Donald Trump's repeated signalling that he might not accept the outcome if defeated. Equally troubling are his administration's apparent efforts over recent months to disenfranchise voters in areas of traditional Democratic strength. All of this raises the prospect of a political crisis erupting in November, which the country's checks and balances are increasingly ill-equipped to manage. Read the latest analysis by Bruce Stokes (@CH_Americas) on Donald Trump and the 2026 US midterms for the autumn issue of @TheWorldToday. Article | bit.ly/4A7ojS5 |

Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the scale and character of the ‘shadow fleet' has transformed dramatically. Before the war, around 200 dark ships were believed to be operating. Today, estimates suggest the fleet comprises more than 1,300 vessels and accounts for at least one in every five oil tankers worldwide. Read Nitya Labh's (@CH_IntSecurity) analysis on the international shadow fleet for the autumn issue of @TheWorldToday, the international affairs magazine of Chatham House. Article | bit.ly/3ULqZVf |

Available now, the autumn issue of @TheWorldToday, the international affairs magazine of Chatham House. Read the latest stories: ▪️Leading experts discuss how artificial intelligence will change our world. ▪️@BarhamSalih (@Refugees) offers his plan to tackle the global refugee crisis. ▪️Bruce Stokes analyses what happens if Donald Trump rejects the US midterm results. ▪️@Fillionsteph10 writes on the challenges facing the United Nations and the next UN Secretary General. ▪️@milanimohsen covers how the US-Iran war will reshape the geopolitics of the Persian Gulf. ▪️Steve Tsang (@SOAS_CI) discusses how the West fails to grasp China's grand strategy. ▪️Kiri Rupiah asks whether South Africa's anti-immigrant backlash signals the beginning of a new era. Autumn 2026 issue | bit.ly/4cHEn2G |

Israel and Iran operate on the conviction that security can only be achieved through regional hegemony and the subordination of its neighbours. Such a zero-sum pursuit has generated systemic instability across the Persian Gulf region. Critically, it has placed the Gulf Arab states in the crosshairs of Israeli and Iranian adventurism. The time has come for a fundamental review of how the Gulf states and their partners engage with these two disruptive powers. Read Rashid Al-Mohanadi's (@ME_Council) analysis on the crisis in the Persian Gulf for the summer issue of the @TheWorldToday. Article | bit.ly/4iOMJcy |

Over the past decade, a small number of private companies have become responsible for the world’s entire internet infrastructure. This network of subsea cables was designed for connectivity, not for protection in the event of conflict. Research published in 2023 documented how the four largest technology companies – Google, Meta, Microsoft and Amazon – went from owning a single long-distance undersea cable connecting the United States and Japan in 2010 to more than 30 such cables in 2024, while three companies – Amazon Web Services, Microsoft’s Azure and Google Cloud – controlled more than half the world’s biggest data centres. Read @CalumInv's (@ODIHQ) analysis on how the Iran war has highlighted the vulnerability of data centres for @TheWorldToday, the international affairs magazine of @ChathamHouse⤵️ Article | bit.ly/4xysmVA |

The Taiwan Strait is one of the world's busiest trade corridors. Approximately a fifth of global maritime cargo and more than half of the world's container fleet pass through it. Over the past few years China has repeatedly carried out military drills around Taiwan. In December, for example, China's Eastern Theatre Command conducted 10 hours of live-fire exercises in the waters around Taiwan. Nitya Labh (@CH_IntSecurity) analyses the risks towards the global economy from disruptions at major maritime chokepoints in the summer issue of @TheWorldToday ⤵️ Article | chathamhouse.org/publication… |

The world needs a new, permanent ‘third' economic pole, without the United States or China, built by countries in favour of a rules‑based approach to the global economy. The third economic pole should start with the European Union and signatories of the CPTPP which together account for more than 30 per cent of world GDP. @ButlerCreon tells the summer issue of @TheWorldToday that liberal economies need to unite to form this third economic pole without China — or the United States. Article | chathamhouse.org/publication… |

Over the past decade, a small number of private companies have become responsible for the world’s entire internet infrastructure. This network of subsea cables was designed for connectivity, not for protection in the event of conflict. Research published in 2023 documented how the four largest technology companies – Google, Meta, Microsoft and Amazon – went from owning a single long-distance undersea cable connecting the United States and Japan in 2010 to more than 30 such cables in 2024, while three companies – Amazon Web Services, Microsoft’s Azure and Google Cloud – controlled more than half the world’s biggest data centres. Read @CalumInv's (@ODIHQ) analysis on how the Iran war has highlighted the vulnerability of data centres for @TheWorldToday, the international affairs magazine of @ChathamHouse⤵️ Article | chathamhouse.org/publication… |

Israel and Iran operate on the conviction that security can only be achieved through regional hegemony and the subordination of its neighbours. Such a zero-sum pursuit has generated systemic instability across the Persian Gulf region. Critically, it has placed the Gulf Arab states in the crosshairs of Israeli and Iranian adventurism. The time has come for a fundamental review of how the Gulf states and their partners engage with these two disruptive powers. Read Rashid Al-Mohanadi's (@ME_Council) analysis on the crisis in the Persian Gulf for the summer issue of the @TheWorldToday. Article | chathamhouse.org/publication… |

Over the past decade, a small number of private companies have become responsible for the world’s entire internet infrastructure. This network of subsea cables was designed for connectivity, not for protection in the event of conflict. Research published in 2023 documented how the four largest technology companies – Google, Meta, Microsoft and Amazon – went from owning a single long-distance undersea cable connecting the United States and Japan in 2010 to more than 30 such cables in 2024, while three companies – Amazon Web Services, Microsoft’s Azure and Google Cloud – controlled more than half the world’s biggest data centres. Read @CalumInv's (@ODIHQ) analysis on how the Iran war has highlighted the vulnerability of data centres for @TheWorldToday, the international affairs magazine of @ChathamHouse⤵️ Article | chathamhouse.org/publication… |

Israel and Iran operate on the conviction that security can only be achieved through regional hegemony and the subordination of its neighbours. Such a zero-sum pursuit has generated systemic instability across the Persian Gulf region. Critically, it has placed the Gulf Arab states in the crosshairs of Israeli and Iranian adventurism. The time has come for a fundamental review of how the Gulf states and their partners engage with these two disruptive powers. Read Rashid Al-Mohanadi's (@ME_Council) analysis on the crisis in the Persian Gulf for the summer issue of @TheWorldToday. Article | chathamhouse.org/publication… |