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President Xi warns that cut-throat, self-defeating competition is weakening his country’s economy even as productivity and exports rise. Beijing now sees curbing this dynamic as essential.
Cracks widen in China’s economic growth model
Subscribers // by Nathan Sperber (Le Monde diplomatique - English edition, December 2025)
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December 8, 2025 at 5:49 PM
President Xi warns that cut-throat, self-defeating competition is weakening his country’s economy even as productivity and exports rise. Beijing now sees curbing this dynamic as essential.
While the US is still backing fossil fuels, China is pushing ahead with renewables – and building a vast export engine in the process.
China’s great green leap forward
Subscribers // by Arnaud Bertrand (Le Monde diplomatique - English edition, December 2025)
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December 8, 2025 at 9:01 AM
While the US is still backing fossil fuels, China is pushing ahead with renewables – and building a vast export engine in the process.
Bhutan has never been colonised. In 1907 a hereditary monarchy replaced the old dual system of temporal and spiritual power, the latter based on reincarnation.
India’s tight grip on Bhutan
Subscribers // by Hélène Ferrarini (Le Monde diplomatique - English edition, December 2025)
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December 7, 2025 at 3:22 PM
Bhutan has never been colonised. In 1907 a hereditary monarchy replaced the old dual system of temporal and spiritual power, the latter based on reincarnation.
Two years ago, on Bhutan’s National Day, 17 December, King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck announced the creation of a special administrative zone named Gelephu Mindfulness City.
Mindfulness City
Subscribers // by Hélène Ferrarini (Le Monde diplomatique - English edition, December 2025)
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December 7, 2025 at 11:36 AM
Two years ago, on Bhutan’s National Day, 17 December, King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck announced the creation of a special administrative zone named Gelephu Mindfulness City.
Bhutan devised the idea of ‘gross national happiness’ (GNH). So why are young people leaving in such numbers?
mondediplo.com/2025/12/07bh...
mondediplo.com/2025/12/07bh...
Bhutan: land of happiness?
Subscribers // by Hélène Ferrarini (Le Monde diplomatique - English edition, December 2025)
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December 6, 2025 at 3:03 PM
Bhutan devised the idea of ‘gross national happiness’ (GNH). So why are young people leaving in such numbers?
mondediplo.com/2025/12/07bh...
mondediplo.com/2025/12/07bh...
Eight decades after Hiroshima, nuclear deterrence is back in vogue. But while nuclear powers pump money into modernising their arsenals, two thirds of UN members have signed a treaty to ban them.
Is this the age of strategic nuclear piracy?
Subscribers // by Jean-Marie Collin (Le Monde diplomatique - English edition, December 2025)
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December 6, 2025 at 11:18 AM
Eight decades after Hiroshima, nuclear deterrence is back in vogue. But while nuclear powers pump money into modernising their arsenals, two thirds of UN members have signed a treaty to ban them.
A Mediterranean presence is vital for Russia’s military, and the new Damascus government knows it cannot steady the country without Moscow. Renegotiating the future of its two bases won’t be easy, though.
Syria’s new leaders keep Russia in play
Subscribers // by Igor Delanoë (Le Monde diplomatique - English edition, December 2025)
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December 5, 2025 at 5:37 PM
A Mediterranean presence is vital for Russia’s military, and the new Damascus government knows it cannot steady the country without Moscow. Renegotiating the future of its two bases won’t be easy, though.
When we realise the extent of capitalist planning, is it easier to argue for democratic rather than autocratic planning, planning that serves social needs rather than private profit?
Inside capitalism’s hidden command centres
by Benjamin Selwyn (Le Monde diplomatique - English edition, December 2025)
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December 5, 2025 at 9:23 AM
When we realise the extent of capitalist planning, is it easier to argue for democratic rather than autocratic planning, planning that serves social needs rather than private profit?
The major flaw in the Dayton accords was not conceding too much to one side, in this case the Serbs, but accepting those responsible for the war as guarantors of the peace.
What is a good peace?
Subscribers // by Jean-Arnault Dérens (Le Monde diplomatique - English edition, December 2025)
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December 4, 2025 at 5:22 PM
The major flaw in the Dayton accords was not conceding too much to one side, in this case the Serbs, but accepting those responsible for the war as guarantors of the peace.
Map: the strategic Galápagos islands.
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mondediplo.com/maps/galapagos
The strategic Galápagos islands
Subscribers // by Cécile Marin (Le Monde diplomatique - English edition, December 2025)
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December 4, 2025 at 9:45 AM
Map: the strategic Galápagos islands.
mondediplo.com/maps/galapagos
mondediplo.com/maps/galapagos
A second Trump administration has accelerated the return of the US to Latin America – and with the war on drugs and fears of China providing cover, Ecuador has proved very willing to cooperate.
mondediplo.com/2025/12/03ec...
mondediplo.com/2025/12/03ec...
Ecuador, firmly back in the US orbit
Subscribers // by Vincent Ortiz (Le Monde diplomatique - English edition, December 2025)
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December 3, 2025 at 5:53 PM
A second Trump administration has accelerated the return of the US to Latin America – and with the war on drugs and fears of China providing cover, Ecuador has proved very willing to cooperate.
mondediplo.com/2025/12/03ec...
mondediplo.com/2025/12/03ec...
A majority of Americans disapprove of the IDF’s actions in Gaza and, for the first time, more support the Palestinians than Israel. Neither party has yet figured out how to respond.
mondediplo.com/2025/12/02us...
mondediplo.com/2025/12/02us...
Is the United States’ patience with Israel running out?
Subscribers // by Serge Halimi (Le Monde diplomatique - English edition, December 2025)
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December 3, 2025 at 9:14 AM
A majority of Americans disapprove of the IDF’s actions in Gaza and, for the first time, more support the Palestinians than Israel. Neither party has yet figured out how to respond.
mondediplo.com/2025/12/02us...
mondediplo.com/2025/12/02us...
Owned by a Chinese firm but treated as a news source by four in ten young Americans, Tiktok has been accused of favouring pro-Palestinian content. This is, in fact, simply because users create 17 times as many such posts as pro-Israel ones.
mondediplo.com/2025/12/01ed...
mondediplo.com/2025/12/01ed...
The new media weapons of war
Open access // by Benoît Bréville (Le Monde diplomatique - English edition, December 2025)
mondediplo.com
December 2, 2025 at 5:31 PM
Owned by a Chinese firm but treated as a news source by four in ten young Americans, Tiktok has been accused of favouring pro-Palestinian content. This is, in fact, simply because users create 17 times as many such posts as pro-Israel ones.
mondediplo.com/2025/12/01ed...
mondediplo.com/2025/12/01ed...
Our December issue is online.
mondediplo.com/2025/12/
mondediplo.com/2025/12/
December 2025
…Even in the US, patience with Israel is wearing thin; Syria's new leaders keep Russia in play; Ecuador, back in the US orbit; lessons of former Yugoslavia's breakup; China's great green leap forward;...
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December 2, 2025 at 8:22 AM
Our December issue is online.
mondediplo.com/2025/12/
mondediplo.com/2025/12/
The December 2025 edition, coming soon in English...
Le numéro de décembre est disponible 🗞️ ! Quel article lirez-vous en premier ?
Même les Américains se lassent d'Israël ; Les patrons piquent une crise ; Le huitième front ; Une seule solution, la résolution ! ; Le souffle de décembre 1995 ; Psychose ↓
Même les Américains se lassent d'Israël ; Les patrons piquent une crise ; Le huitième front ; Une seule solution, la résolution ! ; Le souffle de décembre 1995 ; Psychose ↓
November 29, 2025 at 4:36 PM
The December 2025 edition, coming soon in English...
From the darkness of the Francoist era to the lively feminist protests of the present day, Spain has undergone a radical metamorphosis. Fifty years on from Franco’s death, this free ebook outlines its many faces.
mondediplo.com/ebooks/spain
mondediplo.com/ebooks/spain
Spain: from Francoism to feminist revolution
(Le Monde diplomatique - English edition, November 2025)
mondediplo.com
November 29, 2025 at 11:18 AM
From the darkness of the Francoist era to the lively feminist protests of the present day, Spain has undergone a radical metamorphosis. Fifty years on from Franco’s death, this free ebook outlines its many faces.
mondediplo.com/ebooks/spain
mondediplo.com/ebooks/spain
Reposted by Le Monde diplomatique in English
Anyone who values quality journalism that is fearlessly non-partisan must subscribe to Le Monde Diplomatique mondediplo.com/2023/11/12in...
Why independent journalism matters
Open access // by Benoît Bréville & Pierre Rimbert (Le Monde diplomatique - English edition, November 2023)
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January 3, 2024 at 8:18 PM
Anyone who values quality journalism that is fearlessly non-partisan must subscribe to Le Monde Diplomatique mondediplo.com/2023/11/12in...
Reposted by Le Monde diplomatique in English
"The United Nations is an institution that is having to take a crash diet."
Read my diet tips for the UN.
mondediplo.com/2025/10/14un
Read my diet tips for the UN.
mondediplo.com/2025/10/14un
At 80, the UN struggles on
Open access // by Richard Gowan (Le Monde diplomatique - English edition, October 2025)
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October 28, 2025 at 1:16 PM
"The United Nations is an institution that is having to take a crash diet."
Read my diet tips for the UN.
mondediplo.com/2025/10/14un
Read my diet tips for the UN.
mondediplo.com/2025/10/14un
Reposted by Le Monde diplomatique in English
And the winner is… Binyamin Netanyahu
The most slapdash accord in the Middle East’s history
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mondediplo.com/2025/11/08gaza
The most slapdash accord in the Middle East’s history
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mondediplo.com/2025/11/08gaza
And the winner is… Binyamin Netanyahu
Subscribers // by Gilbert Achcar (Le Monde diplomatique - English edition, November 2025)
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October 30, 2025 at 9:41 AM
And the winner is… Binyamin Netanyahu
The most slapdash accord in the Middle East’s history
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mondediplo.com/2025/11/08gaza
The most slapdash accord in the Middle East’s history
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mondediplo.com/2025/11/08gaza
Reposted by Le Monde diplomatique in English
I have a new essay - on the emptiness of sovereignty rhetoric behind "sovereign AI" - in the November issue of Le Monde Diplomatique. English version, paywalled, is here mondediplo.com/2025/11/03tech
Sovereignty for sale
Subscribers // by Evgeny Morozov (Le Monde diplomatique - English edition, November 2025)
mondediplo.com
October 30, 2025 at 1:25 PM
I have a new essay - on the emptiness of sovereignty rhetoric behind "sovereign AI" - in the November issue of Le Monde Diplomatique. English version, paywalled, is here mondediplo.com/2025/11/03tech
Belgians are striking for three days from 24-26 November, in protest against the ‘Arizona’ coalition’s plans to cut public spending while significantly increasing the defence budget.
The dangerous illusion
Open access // by Peter Mertens (Le Monde diplomatique - English edition, June 2025)
mondediplo.com
November 25, 2025 at 12:46 PM
Belgians are striking for three days from 24-26 November, in protest against the ‘Arizona’ coalition’s plans to cut public spending while significantly increasing the defence budget.
On 21 November 1995, at the US air force base in Dayton, Ohio, a peace agreement was reached which halted the bloody war between Serbia, Croatia and Bosnia that had lasted over three years. The Bosnian war came to an end in the US and under US leadership.
The US washes its hands of Europe
Subscribers // by Serge Halimi (Le Monde diplomatique - English edition, April 2025)
mondediplo.com
November 21, 2025 at 5:37 PM
On 21 November 1995, at the US air force base in Dayton, Ohio, a peace agreement was reached which halted the bloody war between Serbia, Croatia and Bosnia that had lasted over three years. The Bosnian war came to an end in the US and under US leadership.
‘Her days begin and end with Russia,’ a Brussels diplomat said off the record. Another added, ‘We expected her to be, well, more diplomatic.’
The EU’s top diplomat makes her mark
Subscribers // by Pierre Rimbert (Le Monde diplomatique - English edition, November 2025)
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November 19, 2025 at 5:53 PM
‘Her days begin and end with Russia,’ a Brussels diplomat said off the record. Another added, ‘We expected her to be, well, more diplomatic.’
Narco-trafficking functions as a loosely defined term, grouping disparate local situations, giving them a global structure and helping win Congressional support and funding.
‘Narco-trafficking’ is a useful term
Subscribers // by Laurent Bonelli (Le Monde diplomatique - English edition, November 2025)
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November 19, 2025 at 9:14 AM
Narco-trafficking functions as a loosely defined term, grouping disparate local situations, giving them a global structure and helping win Congressional support and funding.
Feuding drug cartels make great TV – and handy political enemies. In France, as elsewhere, though it’s largely a myth, the ‘narco threat’ has become a justification for expanding the security machine.
The security state’s enemy of choice
Subscribers // by Laurent Bonelli (Le Monde diplomatique - English edition, November 2025)
mondediplo.com
November 18, 2025 at 5:30 PM
Feuding drug cartels make great TV – and handy political enemies. In France, as elsewhere, though it’s largely a myth, the ‘narco threat’ has become a justification for expanding the security machine.