What Caught My Eye (no. 46)
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.
Anne Applebaum, “Trump’s Letter to Norway Should Be the Last Straw,” The Atlantic, January 19, 2026. Applebaum argues that Trump’s letter blaming Oslo for not awarding him the Nobel Peace Prize and asserting a U.S. right to seize Greenland reveals a dangerous detachment from reality and basic facts. The letter signals not a coherent foreign-policy doctrine but impulsive grievance politics that could lead to trade wars or even military confrontation with a NATO ally. Applebaum warns that an American occupation of Greenland would be legally indefensible, strategically disastrous, and morally incoherent. She concludes that Republicans in Congress are now the last effective check on Trump, and that their failure to act risks lasting damage to U.S. alliances, credibility, and national interests.
Robert Kagan, “America vs. the World,” The Atlantic, January 18, 2026.
Kagan argues that Trump’s foreign policy marks a deliberate abandonment of the American-led liberal international order, not because America couldn’t sustain it but because it chose to abandon it. He warns that this return to multipolarity will make the world far more violent and unstable, while leaving the United States poorer, more isolated, and forced to rely solely on its own power. America’s greatest source of strength was its alliances, and dismantling them will ultimately weaken U.S. power while accelerating global conflict.
Mark Carney, “Davos 2026: Special address by Mark Carney, Prime Minister of Canada,” World Economic Forum, January 18, 2026. Carney’s speech, a wake up call to the free world and a rejection of a world order weaponized by the Trump administration, was one of the most remarkable moments of Davos. The full speech is worth a read, as Carney describes what a post-U.S. order looks like and emphasizes that the “old order in not coming back.”
Benjamin Carter Hett, “The Power of Grievance: What History Reveals About Authoritarianism’s Animating Force,” Foreign Affairs, January 21, 2026. Hett, a history professor at Hunter College, applies lessons from history to argue that modern authoritarianism is driven less by ideology than by grievance and humiliation among groups left behind by economic and political change. Drawing parallels between interwar Europe and the post-Cold War world, he shows how perceived defeat, loss of status, and resentment toward elites fueled fascism then and energize authoritarian movements today. Hett warns that failing to address these underlying grievances risks repeating the catastrophic cycles of the 20th century.
Charles Homans, “Watching America Unravel in Minneapolis,” The New York Times, January 25, 2026. Homans reports from Minneapolis during “Operation Metro Surge,” describing a heavy federal immigration deployment that he says functions less like conventional law enforcement and more like a performative show of power, repeatedly escalating into chaotic street confrontations. He recounts the two fatal shootings of Renee Good and nurse Alex Jeffrey Pretti and tells of residents building ad hoc mutual-aid networks tracking agents, escorting kids to school, and delivering food to families too afraid to leave home. Homans shows how Minneapolis offers a preview of a “dystopian” civic breakdown: federal force applied with little accountability, communities left to self-organize for protection, and politics increasingly shaped by raw coercion rather than rules.
Jared Malsin and Lara Seligman, “Syrian President Called the U.S.’s Bluff—and It Paid Off,” Wall Street Journal, January 23, 2026. Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa launched a rapid offensive against the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in northeast Syria, betting that Washington would not intervene, and he was right. By persuading Arab factions inside the Kurdish-led SDF to defect, Damascus captured vast territory, including key oil fields and infrastructure, in a matter of days. The collapse of the SDF is now prompting U.S. military leaders to consider a full withdrawal from Syria after more than a decade. While the move strengthens Sharaa’s hold on the country, it raises serious risks, including Kurdish backlash, human rights abuses, and instability around Islamic State detention sites.
Farnaz Fassihi, Sanjana Varghese, Malachy Browne, and Parin Behrooz, “How Iran Crushed a Citizen Uprising With Lethal Force,” The New York Times, January 25, 2026. This report uses videos shared with news organizations or on social media to piece together how the Iranian regime used coordinated violence to put down the popular protests. The thorough reporting shows the breadth of both the protests and the violence used to quell them.
In case you missed it, check out this week’s episode of World Review with guest host Carla Anne Robbins, Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and Director of the MIA Program at Baruch College’s Marxe School.
Finally, here is a picture of something that caught my eye during my travels, the Massif in Torres del Paine Patagonia. I hope it can give a moment of peace in these trying times.
Happy reading, watching, and listening! Stay safe and stay warm.
And it’s only January.