What Caught My Eye (no. 45)

Some interesting articles and podcasts that caught my eye this week

Here’s this week’s edition of articles I thought worth reading and sharing. Don’t hesitate to recommend your own reads; I may include some as well.

• Franklin Foer, “The Purged,” The Atlantic, January 11, 2026. Foer shows how Trump’s mass purge of federal workers isn’t just a staffing cut, but the dismantling of the modern American state and the expertise that makes it function. He traces how the administration quickly removed watchdogs, pushed resignations through buyouts, and hollowed out or dismantled agencies, producing a net loss of roughly 300,000 federal employees. He builds the piece around dozens of individual profiles of people who once managed disease preparedness, prosecuted civil rights cases, and rescued stranded campers.

• Dexter Filkins, “How Marco Rubio Went from ‘Little Marco’ to Trump’s Foreign-Policy Enabler,” The New Yorker, January 12, 2026. Filkins, a veteran foreign correspondent, demonstrates how Rubio has evolved from a Trump critic and Reagan-style internationalist into the chief defender and executor of Trump’s unilateral foreign policy. The article argues that Rubio has helped dismantle U.S. diplomacy and foreign aid in favor of coercion, migration crackdowns, and hemispheric dominance. His long-standing obsession with toppling Venezuela’s regime has finally been realized, but at the cost of instability, sidelined democratic forces, and an open-ended U.S. entanglement for which Rubio may ultimately bear responsibility.

• Edward Luce, “How to de-risk from America,” Financial Times, January 13, 2026. Luce, the FT’s chief U.S. commentator, argues that Trump’s repudiation of U.S. global leadership has triggered an unprecedented shift: allies are no longer just de-risking from China, but from America itself. He shows how economic diversification away from U.S. markets and the dollar is accelerating, while Trump’s attacks on institutions like the Federal Reserve undermine confidence in U.S. financial stability. Luce warns that Trump is forcing America’s partners to build alternative systems, making China the chief beneficiary of U.S. retreat.

• Afshon Ostovar and Ryan Evans, “The Reckoning of the Ayatollahs: Understanding Iran’s Burgeoning Uprising,” War on the Rocks Podcast, January 13, 2026. In this conversation, Ostovar explains the roots and dynamics of Iran’s growing, nationwide protest movement. He details how the regime’s security apparatus functions, why repression is becoming less effective, and how elite fractures could accelerate collapse. The discussion also assesses the role of Reza Pahlavi as a potential rallying figure and outlines plausible scenarios for regime failure or survival. Ostovar situates the uprising within Iran’s longer political trajectory, arguing that the regime now faces a legitimacy crisis deeper than any since 1979.

• James Shotter, Michael Peel, Chris Cook, and Abigail Hauslohner, “Broad mandate of Trump’s Board of Peace sets it up for rivalry with UN,” Financial Times, January 2026. The FT reports that Donald Trump’s new Board of Peace, initially conceived to oversee Gaza’s postwar governance, has a far broader mandate that could position it as a rival to the United Nations. Its charter does not mention Gaza specifically and instead envisions a flexible, head-of-state–led body able to mediate conflicts globally, including potentially Ukraine and Venezuela. While U.S. officials say the focus remains Gaza for now, the structure suggests an expandable framework aligned with Trump’s long-standing skepticism toward the UN and international norms.

• Chun Han Wong, “Xi’s Enforcers Punished Nearly a Million in 2025—and China’s Leader Wants More,” The Wall Street Journal, January 17, 2026. Wong reports that Xi Jinping’s anti-corruption campaign reached a new peak in 2025, with Communist Party enforcers disciplining nearly one million people. Far from easing off, Xi is demanding even stricter supervision to force bureaucrats to carry out his agenda as China prepares a new five-year economic plan. The crackdown has evolved from targeting graft into a tool for enforcing political loyalty, sweeping up senior officials, military leaders, and even Xi’s former protégés. The scale of the purges has also bred paralysis and risk aversion among officials, highlighting the tension between Xi’s drive for control and his need for effective governance.

• Nicholas Kristof, “How War With China Begins,” The New York Times, January 17, 2026. Kristof outlines how a conflict over Taiwan is more likely to start through gradual “gray zone” escalation such as cyberattacks, cable sabotage, financial pressure, and blockades, than through an immediate full-scale invasion. He argues these measures could spiral into war involving the United States, with catastrophic human and economic costs, even if China ultimately failed to seize the island.

• Meghan L. O’Sullivan, “How Venezuela Becomes a Quagmire: Washington Is Repeating Mistakes It Made in Iraq,” Foreign Affairs, January 16, 2026. O’Sullivan, the director of Harvard’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, argues that although Trump’s operation to capture Nicolás Maduro was far smaller than the 2003 invasion of Iraq, it risks repeating the same strategic errors that turned Iraq into a quagmire. Drawing on her experience in Iraq, she warns that Washington is dangerously underprepared for the “day after,” particularly if Venezuelan institutions and security forces collapse. Without planning for governance, resources, regional buy-in, and an inclusive political transition, actions in Venezuela could undermine U.S. credibility and entangle Washington in a prolonged conflict.

• Wall Street Week, “Oil Access and Power Politics: Inside America’s Venezuela Strategy,” Bloomberg Television, January 9, 2026. This segment, featuring Richard Haass of The Council on Foreign Relations, explores how Washington’s recalibrated approach to Venezuela prioritizes securing access to Venezuelan oil over traditional goals like promoting democracy or regime change. Haass argues that the Trump administration sees Venezuela’s vast oil reserves as central to U.S. economic and security interests, and that this strategic focus largely explains U.S. actions in the country.

Finally, in case you missed it, check out this week’s episode of World Review focused on the escalating tensions in Iran, the geopolitical implications of Greenland, and the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.

Happy reading, watching, and listening!