Le Monde diplomatique - English edition

Afghanistan-Pakistan border tensions

Fanny Privat — 2026-04-27T21:03:11Z

- Asia / Map, 2026/05 afghanistan pakistan

Strategic and commercial oil reserves

Cécile Marin — 2026-04-27T21:02:54Z

- Energy / Map, 2026/05 energy

Lebanon: where civilisations met and merged

Maya Jaggi — 2026-04-27T21:02:32Z

The gnarled, monumental olive trees leading to Nabil Nahas's studio in the mountains north of Beirut, portrayed by the renowned Lebanese-American artist in semi-abstract paintings, are silent witnesses to more than a thousand years of history. ‘They date from the Roman period,' and come from lands mentioned in the bible, Nahas told me at his studio in the Lebanese village of Ain Aar in February. ‘What's fascinating is that they're still alive.'

- 2026/05 / article

At Palmyra, heritage comes before people

Antoine Pecqueur — 2026-04-27T21:02:30Z

The ancient city of Palmyra in the Syrian desert has frequently been ravaged by war. As new reconstruction plans take shape, the drive to rebuild it risks sidelining the needs of local people.

- 2026/05 / article

Anthropic, Silicon Valley's conscience?

Félix Tréguer — 2026-04-27T21:02:29Z

Anthropic's recent clash with the White House over the use of AI in military and surveillance technology signalled lofty principles. Yet it's already embedded in the defence systems it claims to resist.

- 2026/05 / article

Vatican weighs in on AI

Zako Sapey-Triomphe — 2026-04-27T21:02:28Z

AI's advocates talk up the technology as a force that could transform humanity. The Vatican does not see progress, but a troubling new creed.

- 2026/05 / article, 2026/05 vatican

Is Irish reunification back?

Cédric Gouverneur — 2026-04-27T21:02:26Z

Northern Ireland voted to remain in the EU. Brexit has strained ties with Britain and renewed talk of a united Ireland.

- 2026/05 / article

Tensions rise between Islamabad and Kabul

Zia Ur Rehman — 2026-04-27T21:02:25Z

In the porous borderlands between Pakistan and Afghanistan, sporadic clashes have escalated into sustained, low-intensity conflict over security interests. It's not all-out war, but it's highly volatile.

- 2026/05 / article, 2026/05 afghanistan pakistan

Made in China means made in Yiwu

Maëlle Mariette — 2026-04-27T21:02:24Z

Place an order at Yiwu International Trade Market and a vast network of Chinese manufacturing springs into action. The goods may not be high-end, but this market has an extraordinary global reach.

- 2026/05 / article

Is Lebanon at risk of tearing itself apart?

Karim Emile Bitar — 2026-04-27T21:02:23Z

The bombardment of Lebanon is part of a long-term strategy through which Israel seeks to weaken its adversaries. But Hizbullah also bears responsibility for the country's ongoing fragility.

- 2026/05 / article

Israel: from eviction to ethnic cleansing

Ilan Pappe — 2026-04-27T21:02:22Z

Zionist leaders long debated whether Palestinians might be induced to leave voluntarily or only by force. From the mid-1920s, as they bought up land and tensions grew, these ideas would harden.

- 2026/05 / article

France called to account

Benjamin Fiorini — 2026-04-27T21:02:20Z

States are subject to what are known as peremptory norms of international law; these are fundamental rules accepted by the international community to which states subscribe by ratifying treaties. Breaches of these obligations may be sanctioned by national or international courts. One of the most significant is the duty to prevent genocidal acts, set out in the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. In a ruling of 30 April 2024, the International Court of (…)

- 2026/05 / article

‘Adapt, shrink or die'

Anne-Cécile Robert — 2026-04-27T21:02:17Z

With the US withholding funding, the UN is cutting back operations and rethinking priorities.

- 2026/05 / article

The Iran war exposes a fragile energy system

Michael T Klare — 2026-04-27T21:02:16Z

Global energy markets were already under strain before the war in Iran: ever-rising demand for fossil fuels and a sluggish transition to renewables mean the whole system must now be rethought.

- 2026/05 / article

Global energy shock tests limits of oil reserves

Eva Thiébaud — 2026-04-27T21:02:15Z

Even the drawdown of 400 million barrels of oil has barely contained price rises. For gas, there is as yet no globally coordinated system for emergencies.

- 2026/05 / article, 2026/05 energy

Just another day

Benoît Bréville — 2026-04-27T21:02:13Z

Tuesday 7 April. It was an evening much like any other. At 9pm French TV channels were airing a game show, a repeat of Kitchen Nightmares and, on the Franco-German channel Arte, a documentary soberly titled Europe in Putin's Grip? (since tracking the Russian threat is its favourite occupation). The day itself, however, had been far from ordinary. A few hours earlier, Donald Trump had posted an exceptionally violent warning on Truth Social: ‘A whole civilisation will die tonight, never to (…)

- 2026/05 / editorial