The Year in Review
List of The Year in Review articles
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Wind turbines tower over a building on a farm in Colorado City, Texas, on Jan. 21, 2016. The Best Deep Dives of 2020
Essential reads from a Chinese wind farm in Del Rio, Texas, to U.N. headquarters.
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Election judge Bonnie Carr looks over ballots as she prepares them to be counted at the Denver Elections Division Building in Denver on Nov 3. Our Top Arguments of 2020
From the pandemic to Black Lives Matter and the U.S. election, five articles from the year that changed everything.
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A man cross an empty highway on Feb. 3 in Wuhan, China. Our Top Stories of 2020
From human rights abuses in Xinjiang to the coronavirus crisis in the United States, here are the stories that most captivated our readers this year.
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A person stands below an Ethiopian flag during a blood donation rally in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on Nov. 12. Is Ethiopia the Next Yugoslavia?
A country that once seemed to hold great promise for peaceful democratization has descended into conflict. Here’s what could happen next.
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British Prime Minister Boris Johnson Boris Johnson’s Year From Hell
Britain’s prime minister promised to take back control. When it comes to the coronavirus, he has lost it.
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Supporters and employees of Philippine broadcast network ABS-CBN protest against government attacks on press freedom, in Manila on Feb. 21, 2020. How Press Freedom Came Under Attack in 2020
Citizens hungry for information turned to the media during the pandemic, but governments around the world used the crisis to restrict journalists.
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Steven-Luke-Pentagon-Defense-Department-Whistleblower-article2 Foreign Policy News Stories That Packed a Punch in 2020
From the tragedy of whistleblowers to imperiled nuclear talks to the State Department's struggle with diversity, here are some of our articles that had an outsized impact this year.
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The rooms at the Grand Hotel in Taipei are illuminated to form the word "zero" after Taiwan reported no new coronavirus cases for two consecutive days, on April 17. East Asia Takes a Cautious Coronavirus Victory Lap
Here are five of our best pieces on how East Asia handled the pandemic.
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Medical staff prepare to transfer patients with COVID-19 to a newly built hospital for coronavirus patients in Wuhan, China, on March 3. How China Fought the Pandemic—and Lied About It
A look back at our best essays on the onset of the coronavirus.
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ForeignPolicy__Caste2 The Best of 2020 to Read, Watch, or Listen To
With much of the world in lockdown again, here are some of this year’s highlights to help you pass the time.
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China's President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Donald Trump review the Chinese honor guards during a welcome ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Nov. 9, 2017. How Trump’s Assault on International Organizations Benefits Beijing
The United States was already fighting with China for influence at global organizations, but the pandemic made everything worse.
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Franco D’Agostino, 54, returns home to his wife, Gabriella, and his three daughters in Penne, Italy, on April 27 after 42 days in the hospital. He spent 19 days in the intensive care unit for respiratory failure due to COVID-19. Our Top Visual Stories of 2020
From Afghanistan to Mexico, and from Belarus to Cambodia, here’s the best photojournalism from a year that felt like a decade.
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German Chancellor Angela Merkel talks with newly-elected French President Emmanuel Macron on the terrace, with a view of the television tower in the background during his visit to the chancellor's office on May 15, 2017 in Berlin, Germany. The Deadly Crash of Europe’s Second Wave
The continent thought it had the coronavirus beat—and had its guard down when it mattered most.
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Sailors standing on the deck of a warship at a parade during the Turkish International Ceremony at Mehmetcik Abidesi Martyrs Memorial near Seddulbahir Turkey on April 24, 2015. Turkey’s Year of Living Dangerously
Turkey took its expansionist vision to new heights in 2020—but with a battered economy, growing opposition, and now U.S. sanctions, it’s not clear how long that can continue.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during the Victory Day military parade in Moscow’s Red Square marking the 75th anniversary of the victory in World War II on June 24. In 2020, Putin Raised the Stakes at Home and Abroad
Russia started the year with political uncertainty, then cemented Putin’s future, and ended the year by poisoning the main opposition figure—and future relations with the Biden administration.
