The Debate

He's back with a vengeance. On the first anniversary of his second inauguration, Donald Trump is using all the levers at his disposal to enact retribution on his adversaries at home and the guardians of the old liberal order abroad. 

Read moreThousands rally across US against Trump policies on inauguration anniversary

One year on, why did voters in the US decide to overlook the attempt by his supporters to overturn by force the result of the 2020 elections and return to office the twice-impeached Donald Trump? This time, it's different, very different.

The 79-year-old president wields so much power that he can send masked federal agents into the streets and even raise doubts for some over the fair conduct of midterm elections in opposition strongholds. Inside the Oval Office, boomers raised during the Cold War have been replaced by Gen Zers enthralled by the "move fast and break things" mantra of Silicon Valley tech titans. 

As Europeans scramble in the face of hostile tariffs, calls to grab Greenland and official policy that states the US must "cultivate resistance" within the continent to "Europe’s current trajectory", its leaders face many of the same post-pandemic issues: an ageing population, a head-swimmingly fast digital transformation, a loneliness epidemic among young and old alike, and echo chambers that monetise shock and outrage. 

So much for appeasement. The same Europeans who held their nose and swallowed their pride when the EU agreed to Donald Trump's tariffs last summer can no longer ignore the obvious – that there are limits with a president of the United States who tends to treat them as vassals, not allies, or even as adversaries for pushing back on its White nationalist brand of nativism.

We ask how much pain citizens are willing to bear in the name of safeguarding the continent's security and sovereignty, and how far countermeasures can go in the face of Trump's grab for Greenland, the tariffs slapped on Denmark's allies and official US policy that views liberal values as a threat.

Read moreWhat is the EU anti-coercion 'bazooka' it could use against the US over Greenland?

And then there’s Ukraine. A lot of the carefully-worded "diplospeak" from European capitals this past year has been about keeping the US president on board. But from Greenland to the Baltics, is Europe ready for what lies ahead?

US President Donald Trump had started his Wednesday pondering military strikes against Iran before pouring cold water on the concept, even expressing doubts that Iranians would accept as leader the late shah's son. In a sign of how fast a news cycle can flip, Iran's foreign minister expressed his assurances in English on Trump-friendly Fox News. After a ruthless response to nationwide protests, has the Islamic Republic once again seen off an existential challenge? 

Read moreIranian foreign minister says there is 'no plan' to hang people during crackdown

After a third night of reported quiet in the capital Tehran, the internet is still restricted and the death toll is still mounting, while the same economic woes weigh heavier than ever on citizens.

Read moreTrump says Iran executions ‘stopping’ as Tehran signals fast trials and hangings

What lessons do Iranians draw? What comes of this latest show of defiance?

Produced by François Picard, Rebecca Gnignati, Juliette Laffont, Ilayda Habip, Charles Wente.

There was no Oval Office made-for-TV drama as US Vice President JD Vance joined Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the foreign ministers of Greenland and Denmark this Wednesday. We ask about renewed pressure by the Trump administration on Copenhagen to hand over that Arctic dependency.

How intent is the US on seizing Greenland? Even if it means the end the Atlantic Alliance that's safeguarded Europe's defence under US tutelage since the end of World War II? It's hard to see how NATO could survive coercive action against a faithful ally by its dominant member.

Read moreTaking over Greenland, a long-standing US obsession

Donald Trump stated his intentions on Inauguration Day nearly one year ago, yet still the question begs: why Greenland? Is it about securing maritime passages, untapped raw materials, muscle flexing or simply the fun of keeping everyone guessing? But as Denmark's prime minister says, it's not fun. It's serious. 

Produced by François Picard, Rebecca Gnignati, Juliette Laffont, Ilayda Habip, Charles Wente.

A big stress test for the West's rules-based order, or will French judges take it all in their stride? It's the opening day of Marine Le Pen's appeal against a corruption conviction that for now bars the far-right frontrunner from the 2027 presidential race. With the verdict expected in July, that's getting awfully close to Election Day next spring. The National Rally politician and her supporters have branded the case lawfare – a political vendetta. 

Recently, Marine Le Pen voiced her support for another convicted politician – Nicolas Sarkozy, who became the first former French president to serve jail time since the end of World War II. In a new book, he too cries that the fix is in, a message broadly amplified by right-wing media echo chambers.

What are the facts of the case, where 24 others have been convicted for funnelling EU parliament staff funds back home to the mother ship? Do said facts matter? Is France like the United States, which denies plans to pressure the judges in the Le Pen case?

And what about her party's plan B? Could voters simply turn the page on the scion of a far-right family and happily elect her second-in-command Jordan Bardella as France's first far-right president since Nazi occupation?

Produced by François Picard, Rebecca Gnignati, Daniel Whittington, Ilayda Habip, Charles Wente

It's no longer just about the cost of living. Protests in Iran are entering their third week despite evidence of a ferocious crackdown and the shutting of the internet.

Each time, the context differs but the under-sanctions Islamic Republic of Iran has always outlasted previous movements. Why should this one be any different?

Among the variables, there's maximum pressure from the US that culminated in support for Israel's 12-day bombing campaign last summer and extends to fresh threats of retribution. In the past, like during the 2009 Green Movement, the West has been hesitant to further squeeze a nation where it's ordinary citizens who bear the brunt of sanctions. We ask if Europe wants to also up the pressure. 

But there's always the "nothing to lose" factor. One of the clear signs that revolution was afoot in 1979 was that elites no longer supported the shah. Is it a sign that this time the protests started with Tehran Grand Bazaar merchants fed up with inflation? Back then, the revolution had a face: Ayatollah Khomeini. In 2026, how far could a leaderless movement go?

Produced by François Picard, Rebecca Gnignati, Daniel Whittington, Ilayda Habip, Charles Wente

Iran's biggest protests since the "Woman, Life, Freedom" movement of 2022 are extending everywhere from Tehran's Grand Bazaar to remote villages throughout the country's 31 provinces. As usual, the regime is offering dialogue while employing deadly force, issuing menacing warnings and slowing or even shutting down the internet. 

Every time social movements arise in the under-sanctions, inflation-hit Islamic Republic, the regime outlasts its opponents. Why should this time be different? What are the variables?

We ask about a global stage where Iran's influence is in stark retreat – in Syria, Lebanon and further away in fellow OPEC+ member Venezuela.

After last summer's US and Israeli bombing campaign, how resilient do the clerics and the Revolutionary Guards remain?

Produced by François Picard, Rebecca Gnignati, Daniel Whittington, Ilayda Habip, Charles Wente.

It’s a tweet pinned to the top of the official account of the US State Department: "This is OUR Hemisphere, and President Trump will not allow our security to be threatened." US diplomacy is making the capture of Venezuela’s president and the threats against Greenland about security. But it was first about drugs and immigration, and now oil and precious minerals. 

Read moreTaking over Greenland, a long-standing US obsession

So what does drive this present-day version of the 19th-century Monroe Doctrine and its claim that the United States holds imperial sway over its entire hemisphere? We ask about motives and targets.

The same Trump administration that wanted to cut a quick deal with the Kremlin on Ukraine is first pressuring an ally of Moscow in South America and now defying Vladimir Putin with the boarding in the North Atlantic of a Russian-flagged ghost tanker originally bound for Caracas. What reaction can we expect from China, the main importer of Venezuelan crude?

Read moreUS military seizes Russian-flagged oil tanker in North Atlantic

And what do NATO allies make of a US that expresses support for a plan that would effectively halt Russia's advance in Ukraine, while threatening to seize Greenland from Denmark? 

Produced by François Picard, Rebecca Gnignati, Daniel Whittington, Ilayda Habip, Charles Wente.

As Venezuela's deposed president faces his first US court date on drug trafficking charges, back in Caracas, Nicolas Maduro's regime remains intact. We ask how a US president who promised no more forever wars will deal with an entrenched system whose local militias have their fingers in drug trafficking, gold and also oil.

Donald Trump has talked up oil, while the word democracy has yet to pass his lips since Saturday's raid. Why sideline Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Corina Machado and the civilian opposition, whose election win was stolen? Will he ultimately try to install a US-style occupation authority? Or simply do business with those currently running Venezuela?

The country is broken after years of sanctions and mismanagement, but its institutions and cohesion differ vastly from Iraq, Afghanistan and other failed US regime change playgrounds. How will Washington's new age of imperialism mesh with a Venezuela that's about to enter a whole new era?

Produced by François Picard, Théophile Vareille, Juliette Laffont, Ilayda Habip, Charles Wente.

It's one of those New Year's resolutions often blurted out after a big family meal. "I'm going to run a marathon!" But like the cautionary saying "puppies aren't for Christmas, they're for life", one wonders how many realise the error of their ways when they're gasping for air during that first January training run. Or not.

Not everyone will run a 41-kilometre race in 2026, but more and more will take up what's arguably the world's oldest sport. Why the trend? Is it a mere post-pandemic fad, or the sign of something deeper?

We think of running as a solitary pursuit, but it's increasingly a social activity. Running clubs are particularly in vogue among the young, who seek a release from a life that's increasingly happening in front of a screen.

Technology is also seeping into the experience, be it with equipment, monitors or apps, to the point that some bemoan the gamification of running.

So what's running about: a pursuit or an escape? Goals to achieve or the experience of the journey?

Produced by François Picard, Rebecca Gnignati, Juliette Laffont, Ilayda Habip, Charles Wente.