# **US Evacuation: When the World Holds Its Breath** In a world where memes travel faster than diplomats, the term “US evacuation” has become the latest buzzword to set the internet abuzz. From TikTok to Twitter, Reddit to Telegram, everyone’s talking about it. But why? Is it the allure of drama, the thrill of geopolitical…
**Greenland 2: The Sequel Nobody Asked For, But Everyone’s Watching** COPENHAGEN—In what can only be described as geopolitical déjà vu with a Nordic twist, the Trump administration’s 2019 real estate fever dream has mutated into “Greenland 2: Arctic Boogaloo.” This time, the sequel comes with higher stakes, chillier reception, and the kind of international awkwardness…
From Jakarta to Johannesburg, the name “Obama” still functions as international shorthand for a very specific cocktail of audacity, eloquence, and the faint smell of drone exhaust. When Barack Hussein Obama II left the White House in January 2017, the global applause was thunderous—partly because it meant the planet had survived eight years of a…
Trump, Kim, and the Art of the Nuclear Handshake A field report from the Department of Diminishing Returns There are moments when the planet holds its breath, and there are moments—rarer still—when it exhales in a collective snort of derision. The latest Trump–Kim episode falls squarely into the second category. From Singapore to Hanoi, and…
Smith-Mundt, the Zombie Act That Won’t Stay Dead by Our Correspondent in the Land of Overlapping Narratives If you’ve spent any time in the global commentariat lately, you may have noticed certain State Department tweets that read like they were written by a caffeinated teenager who just discovered sarcasm. Thank the Smith-Mundt Act—or rather, its…
The Mikie Sherrill Phenomenon, or How One New Jersey Suburb Became a Global Mood Ring By Our Correspondent in Exile, Somewhere Over the Atlantic PARIS—If you want to understand why a former Navy helicopter pilot from Montclair is suddenly the toast of Davos, the headache of Beijing, and the answer to a thousand dinner-party questions…
The world woke up this week to discover that the United States—largest debtor, loudest debtor, and self-appointed hall monitor of the global playground—has decided to re-decorate reality by executive fiat. Again. Donald J. Trump, now auditioning for the role of “comeback kid with a Sharpie,” signed a flurry of orders destined to ricochet through foreign…
Mike Waltz Is the Pentagon’s Newest Spin Doctor, and the Planet Just Got a Little Less Safe By Our Correspondent Who Has Seen Three “Defense Reviews” and a Thousand PowerPoints Die The appointment of Congressman Mike Waltz as U.S. National Security Advisor lands like a drone strike on a wedding party: sudden, loud, and guaranteed…
The Curious Geopolitical Afterlife of Morgan Ortagus By “Buckshot” Blaise, Senior Correspondent, Dave’s Locker Some people leave government and fade into lucrative obscurity—board seats, defense-contractor sinecures, the occasional discreet yacht christening. Others refuse the quiet life, preferring to ricochet across cable-news soundstages like a diplomatic pinball. Morgan Ortagus belongs firmly in the second camp, and…
Project 2025: The World Watches America Draft Its Own Fan-Fic Constitution By Our Correspondent, Still Jet-Lagged from Three Continents and One Existential Crisis PARIS—In the plush backroom of a café off Rue de Rivoli, a German diplomat sips an €8 espresso and mutters, “The Americans are at it again.” He isn’t referring to the usual…
From Bangkok to Berlin, the name Tammy Duckworth is spoken with the hushed reverence usually reserved for ex-Special Forces operatives or people who’ve successfully returned IKEA furniture. A U.S. senator from Illinois, Iraq War helicopter pilot, double amputee, Purple-Heart recipient, and the first sitting senator to give birth while in office, Duckworth has become a…
The Marco Rubio Traveling Circus: A Floridian in the Global Funhouse By Diego “Weathered Passport” Valdez, Senior Correspondent, Dave’s Locker Miami — The first thing you notice when you land at MIA is that even the palm trees seem faintly embarrassed. They know they’re props in a stage set that doubles as the seventh-largest economy…
