WPR at 15

Fifteen years ago, when World Politics Review began publishing original reporting and commentary on global affairs, the world was in many ways a very different place. Over the years, as the events, issues and debates at the forefront of international politics have evolved, so too has WPR. Through all the changes, though, one thing has remained constant: WPR’s commitment to quality and integrity, in the service of our mission “to help our readers identify and make sense of the events and trends shaping our world.”

We’ve selected the following 30 in-depth articles from WPR’s archives based on a variety of criteria—some for the excellence of the writing and reporting that went into them; some for the enduring importance of the issues they deal with; some for their prescience about trends whose significance was not widely recognized at the time they were written; and some for the creativeness of their approach. It is hardly an exhaustive collection, but it is representative of the range of issues, trends and ideas we have judged to be important and compelling over the past 15 years. We look forward to continue finding those important and compelling topics, and bringing them to the attention of our readers, for the next 15 years—and more!

Performers dressed as rescue workers gather around the Communist Party flag during a gala show ahead of the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Chinese Communist Party in Beijing, June 28, 2021 (AP photo by Ng Han Guan).
In-DepthAsia-Pacific
China’s Crucial Decade
Editor’s note: The following article is one of 30 that we’ve selected from our archives to celebrate World Politics Review’s 15th anniversary. You can find the full collection here. For the past four decades, a narrative has taken hold among policymakers and the general public alike suggesting that China’s rise will continue indefinitely, even when mathematics and demographics suggest otherwise. Between the 1980s and the turn of the millennium, this notion was fueled by China’s astonishing double-digit growth. In more recent years, although expectations of growth have been tempered, hopes for and fears that China is on the rise both politically [...]
French Prime Minister Jean Castex and Education Minister Jean-Michel Blanquer attend a memorial service for slain teacher Samuel Paty at a school in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine.
In-DepthEurope
In France, Teachers Tasked With Fighting Radicalization Face an Impossible Job
Editor’s note: The following article is one of 30 that we’ve selected from our archives to celebrate World Politics Review’s 15th anniversary. You can find the full collection here. When Rachid Zerrouki, a teacher in Marseille, headed back to his classroom last Monday, he braced himself for the worst. He hadn’t seen his students since the brutal killing of Samuel Paty, a 47-year-old middle school teacher in the Paris suburb of Conflans-Sainte-Honorine, who was beheaded by a young Chechen refugee days after he showed his class cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad during a lesson about freedom of expression. With school back [...]
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In-DepthAfrica
As BLM Goes Global, It’s Building on Centuries of Black Internationalist Struggle
Editor’s note: The following article is one of 30 that we’ve selected from our archives to celebrate World Politics Review’s 15th anniversary. You can find the full collection here. At approximately 8:19 p.m. on the evening of May 25, Derek Chauvin, a 19-year veteran of the Minneapolis Police Department, brought his weight down upon George Floyd’s neck. Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man, arrested for the alleged crime of using a counterfeit $20 bill, struggled for breath—for life—for more than five minutes. Lying prostrate on the hot concrete, his arms handcuffed behind his back, his airways choked by Chauvin’s knee, Floyd summoned [...]
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WPR at 15
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