The view from the ground.
Dispatch
List of Dispatch articles
![Protesters stand against a wall painted with a mural. They hold a large white banner with black Cyrillic lettering. One holds a cardboard sign.](https://foreignpolicy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/1-Bulgaria-protest-detention-Abdulrahman-al-Khalidi-KYO_4323.jpg?w=800?quality=90)
A Hunger Strike in the Schengen Zone
On the edge of Europe, a Saudi human rights activist is detained as a threat to national security.
![Four men, three with prosthetic legs, wear bike helmets and t-shirts as they stand in a parking lot, gathered around a bicycle held up by the man second from the right. The sky above is a dim, dark blue; it seems to be either dawn or dusk.](https://foreignpolicy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Gaza-Sunbirds-Paralympics-bid-Jonathan-Rashad-01.-DSC08992-0.jpg?w=800?quality=90)
Meet the Para-Cyclists Riding for Gaza
The Sunbirds’ story began with tragedy but has evolved into one of resilience.
![A woman in a red dress and hat walks behind two soldiers wearing camouflage and U.N. berets as they approach a border crossing on a street in Nicosia, Cyprus, on a sunny day.](https://foreignpolicy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/1-Cyprus-ceasefire-50-years-Richard-Morgan.jpeg?w=800?quality=90)
The Island Stuck in Limbo
Fifty years after partition, a divided Cyprus somehow manages to get by.
![Three figures run through a cloud of tear gas on a city street.](https://foreignpolicy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/kenya-tear-gas-GettyImages-2165351120.jpg?w=800?quality=90)
Kenyan Protests See Journalists in the Firing Line
A key ally of the United States is cracking down on press freedoms.
![The sihouette of Palestinian children overlook a camp for displaced people in Rafah.](https://foreignpolicy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/1-gazans-egypt-cairo-refugess-GettyImages-2150046627.jpg?w=800?quality=90)
How 100,000 Palestinians Are Surviving in Egypt Without Refugee Status
Even after buying their way out of Gaza, Palestinians remain vulnerable.
![A child in winter clothes with a red hat walks toward the camera in the foreground as other children are seen crossing a dusty road in the distance in front of a large pile of phosphates that look like a hill of dirt.](https://foreignpolicy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/1-Tunisia-phosphate-mining-daniela-sala-photo-1-19_Tunisia-Phosphates_NDS_0521-1.jpg?w=800?quality=90)
The Dark Side of Tunisia’s Phosphate Boom
As Kais Saied’s government tries to capitalize on demand for a critical mineral, the country’s environment and Gafsa Valley residents are suffering.
![Dozens of Hindu devotees wait in line beneath a hazy blue sky near the newly opened temple of Ram Mandir in Ayodhya, India. Many of the pilgrims are dressed in orange.](https://foreignpolicy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/HINDU-TEMPLE-RAMMANDIR-CAMERAS-GettyImages-1956611628.png?w=800?quality=90)
Indian Temples Are Scanning Visitors’ Faces
Data privacy advocates fear a testing ground for mass religious surveillance.
![A woman wearing a short sleeve shirt stands in a doorway inside a house. Bullet holes can be seen in the walls behind her and writing and spray paint is on a wall.](https://foreignpolicy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Israel-kibbutz-hamas-GettyImages-2139222217.jpg?w=800?quality=90)
Inside Israel, the Gaza War Looks Very Different
Mired in the trauma of Oct. 7, many see the war as one of existential necessity.
![An illustration shows Syrian-born cook Chef Omar holding a shawarma in front of a kitchen counter. Behind him are figures lining up for food at left and refugees on the move at right The building-covered skyline of Istanbul (left) and the rubble-filled skyline of Aleppo (right) are seen farther in the background.](https://foreignpolicy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/chef-omar-syria-turkey-assad-diaspora-maria-contreras-illustration.jpg?w=800?quality=90)
The Influencer Chef Dividing Syria’s Diaspora
Chef Omar has popularized Damascene cuisine online and in his Istanbul restaurant. But is he linked to the Assad regime?
![Two crew members in an ice-covered boat assist three others behind them. The ocean is in the background.](https://foreignpolicy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/arctic-us-geopolitics-P1010696.jpg?w=800?quality=90)
The End of American Exceptionalism in the High North
After years of inattention, the United States is playing catch-up where it once held significant sway.
![German politician Sahra Wagenknecht gestures with both hands open, palms facing the ceiling, as she speaks into the microphone at a podium. A sign on the podium has the German name of her new political party, the BSW.](https://foreignpolicy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/GettyImages-2154537326.jpg?w=800?quality=90)
The Party That Could Shake Up German Politics
A new so-called left-conservative party seeks a foothold in the European Parliament elections.
![A banner depicting the late President Ebrahim Raisi hangs above a gathering of women at the Shah Abdol-Azim shrine in Rey, a conservative southern suburb of Tehran, during the funeral of Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian.](https://foreignpolicy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Iran-Raisi-death-FP_Tehran_SGlinski6.jpg?w=800?quality=90)
The Mood From Tehran
As Iran gears up for elections to replace Raisi, the country is divided.
![Russian President Vladimir Putin sits in front of a microphone with his hands clasped, watching the Uzbek president, not seen, deliver a statement. A Russian flag hangs behind Putin, who wears a dark suit and tie.](https://foreignpolicy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/PUTIN-LIBERALS-OPPOSITION-GettyImages-2154375749.png?w=800?quality=90)
Putin Is Obsessed With Russian Liberals
Attacks on the movement show how insecure Russia’s dictator feels.
![Arms reach up to sacks of aid as they are unloaded by people atop them on a truck above.](https://foreignpolicy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Chad-Sudan-refugee-aid-Ed-ram-photo-24.05.17-CHD-FP-AID-EXP-9.jpg?w=800?quality=90)
The World’s Refugee Relief Is Utterly Broken
Millions of Sudanese are fleeing a warzone—and exposing the world’s bankrupt response.
![A top-down view of a number of Taiwanese dishes on a dark table.](https://foreignpolicy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/taiwan-inauguration-menu-food-diplomacy-elizabeth-kao-1.jpg?w=800?quality=90)
Taiwan’s Dinner Table Diplomacy
One of the courses at Lai Ching-te’s inauguration banquet is rumored to be a playful nod to Xi Jinping.