Briefing

By consensus
What are blockchains?

The databases represent an immutable shared history

Curiouser and curiouser
Adventures in DeFi-land

Can decentralised finance lay the foundations for an open digital economy?

Ashes from ashes
How America wasted its unipolar moment

The war on terror improved neither the nation’s standing nor the nation itself

Imposing orthodoxy
Left-wing activists are using old tactics in a new assault on liberalism

It is possible to detect eerie echoes of the confessional state of yore

Good news for global jihad
America’s flight from Afghanistan will embolden jihadists around the world

Even if the Taliban do little to help other fighters, their success is an inspiration

The Taliban are back in town
From Saigon to Kabul: what America’s Afghan fiasco means for the world

The defeat in Afghanistan is, like that in Vietnam, a turning-point. Many fear America’s foes will be emboldened; others hope it will now be more able to confront them

Trainspotting, but with nukes
Open-source intelligence challenges state monopolies on information

Academics, activists and amateurs are making imaginative use of powerful tools

Pushing back
Joe Biden is determined that China should not displace America

His China policy is looking even tougher than Donald Trump’s