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Critical State

Soldiers line up before leaving to patrol the streets in Bogotá, Colombia, Saturday, Nov. 23, 2019. 

Use the force: Part II

Critical State

Critical State, a foreign policy newsletter by Inkstick Media, takes a deep dive this week into what happened when Colombia’s military took on police work in Cali, the country’s third-largest city.

In this Jan. 20, 2017, file photo, residents walk through the destruction of the once rebel-held Salaheddine neighborhood in the eastern Aleppo, Syria. 

Rebel reliance: Part II

Democratic Republic of Congo Defense Forces gather in the North Kivu province village of Mukondi, Thursday March 9, 2023.

Rebel reliance: Part I

Critical State
Nelson Mandela, left, and his wife Winnie, raise clenched fists as they walk hand-in-hand from the Victor Verster prison near Cape Town, South Africa on Feb. 11, 1990.

‘Winnie and Nelson’: A new book explores a fraught political partnership

Conflict & Justice
The downhill course stands out from the almost snowless landscape ahead of the first men's downhill training run at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Feb. 3, 2022, in the Yanqing district of Beijing. 

States at dawn: Part II

Critical State
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Donate today to help us raise $25,000 by June 30 and help sustain our international reporting. All donations will be matched 2:1!

US paratroopers parachute at the Yavoriv training range in the western Lviv region, Ukraine, on Monday, July 17, 2000.

Winning the peace

Critical State, a foreign policy newsletter by Inkstick Media, takes a deep dive this week into the history of Ukraine’s fight for independence — through peacekeeping.

Elephants in the Chobe National Park in Botswana on March 3, 2013. 

An elephant never forgets, sometimes sheds insight

Critical State

Critical State, a foreign policy newsletter by Inkstick Media, takes a deep dive this week into what the socialization patterns of elephants can teach us about human evolution.

A student shows a piece of ceramic in the archaeological excavation near Salbitz, central Germany, on Friday, April 8, 2011.

States at dawn: Part I

Critical State, a foreign policy newsletter by Inkstick Media, takes a deep dive this week into the pre-history of international relations.

Posters with a message that read in Spanish "Free abortion."

Founding fatherhood: Part II

Critical State

Critical State, a foreign policy newsletter by Inkstick Media, takes a deep dive this week into the decriminalization of abortion in Colombia, in the context of the country’s legacy of war.

In this Wednesday, June 29, 2011, photo, Henrik Holgersson puts a shoe on his son.

Founding fatherhood: Part I

Critical State

Critical State, a foreign policy newsletter by Inkstick Media, takes a deep dive this week into parental leave and caregiving in various affluent democracies between 1965 to 2016.

Donate today to kickstart The World’s fundraising drive!

Donate today to help us raise $25,000 by June 30 and help sustain our international reporting. All donations will be matched 2:1!

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