In this article, Francesco Sisci “heretically” compares two organizational models that seem to be opposites: the Catholic Church and the Chinese Communist Party. Why is this comparison important for the Church, both as an institution and as a community of faith? The Catholic Church is incapable of viewing itself from an outside perspective and never […]
The rise of multipolarity and the US demands for Iran’s unconditional surrender could spiral events out of control. (We are experiencing technical difficulties, and the web doesn’t ‘like’ something about the date, but the article was actually published on March 8. Apologies) Iran might have little incentive to concede to US demands until after the […]
Russia, Venezuela, and Iran are warnings to Beijing, but the US doesn’t have an easy game with China. A ghost will haunt China’s NPC annual plenary session, which opens on March 5 – the ghost of US military lightning successes against top leaders in Venezuela and Iran, and of Russia’s war failures. Russian President Vladimir […]
The war between Russia and Ukraine, first, and Hamas’s attack on Israel have changed the rules. The US and Israel have responded by raising the stakes. It is a new world in which the United Nations no longer exists. Another space for international mediation is needed, and perhaps it should arise under the Pope’s aegis. […]
China is hedging its bet on Russia and might signal it’s willing to find a way out, but the US can’t ignore Beijing’s stakes in Moscow. Until a few months ago, the Ukrainian ambassador to China was shunned by all Beijing’s departments; then, on February 13, 2026, China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with Ukrainian […]
The popular spread is becoming American, an occasion to help find a new identity for the peninsula, and the US, or lose it. It happened only to Coca-Cola, the symbolic brand that represented — and still represents — America. During the Cold War, people weren’t drinking a cold, fizzy syrup; they were swallowing, in large […]
The April US-China summit is suddenly in question. Beijing wants to talk politics rather than trade and believes it has the upper hand. And there is a bigger calculation The April summit between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping may never occur. Beijing has warned that US arms sales to Taiwan (the […]
