Dec 23rd 2023

Christmas double issue

The world this week

Leaders

Cooler heads, calmer words

How to detoxify the politics of migration

Doom-mongers on both the left and the right are wrong

Maritime mayhem

The US Navy confronts a new Suez crisis

Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping threaten global trade

A dismal year for the dismal science

Economists had a dreadful 2023

Mistaken recession calls were just part of it

The centre can hold

The Economist’s country of the year for 2023

It is possible to enact painful economic reforms and still get re-elected

Santa tech

Technology is helping Santa Claus come to town more efficiently

A letter to shareholders of Father Christmas Global Inc

Letters

On investment in Europe, Napoleon, funeral cars, spy novels, euphemisms, flying lawn chairs

Letters to the editor

Asia

Shunting the junta

China is backing opposing sides in Myanmar’s civil war

Off track

Why are Indians shunning the country’s shiny new metro lines?

Baby-making

How to entice Japanese couples to have babies

China

Xi-3PO

China’s quest to become a robot superpower

Democrat in the dock

The unfair trial of Jimmy Lai begins in Hong Kong

Chaguan

Why China’s rulers fear Genghis Khan

United States

Christmas delayed

A majority of congressmen want more military aid for Ukraine

Jersey sure

Newark may have found a fix for chronic homelessness

The fais do do

Louisiana Creole is enjoying a modest revival

Lexington

Why Donald Trump is gaining ground with young voters

Middle East & Africa

Piracy and peace

Attacks on shipping threaten to upend peace talks in Yemen

Hostage to hell

Israel isn’t sure what to do about the hostages in Gaza

Cancelling Christmas in the Holy Land

The plight of Christians in Bethlehem and Jerusalem predates the latest Gaza war

A nightmare within a nightmare

A supposed haven in Sudan falls to a genocidal militia

A barely governable country

For Congo’s next president, winning may be the easy part

The Americas

A constitutional quagmire

For a second time Chileans reject a new constitution. Now what?

Money down the train

The Mexican president’s latest boondoggle officially opens

Europe

The blue queen

The head of the hard-right Alternative for Germany is riding high

Rough draft

Ukraine’s army is struggling to find good recruits

French style

Why French women no longer wear high heels

How to fund it

Europe is struggling to find the money

Charlemagne

At Christmas, Europeans look less united than ever

Britain

The second city

The parable of Andy Street, the mayor for the West Midlands

The power of recall

How British voters remove misbehaving MPs

Hair today

The British army mulls allowing beards

Bagehot

Inside the banter-industrial complex

Christmas Specials

In kob we trust

On safari in South Sudan, one of the world’s most dangerous countries

Make America Godly Again

Many Trump supporters believe God has chosen him to rule

Wine and climate

Global warming is changing wine (not yet for the worse)

Life does not stop

How five Ukrainian cities are coping, despite Putin’s war

Free speech, gay rights and waterfowl

A tale of penguins and prejudice is a parable of modern America

Following Fatimah’s sandals

What the journey of a pair of shoes reveals about capitalism

The economics of technology

A short history of tractors in English

Beside the seaside

Millions of Chinese are venturing to the beach for the first time

I’m a celebrity...Get me out of here!

How the young Winston Churchill escaped from a prisoner-of-war camp

The price of a whale

Where capitalism and conservation meet

From star to power

Why Tamil movie heroes become politicians

Women and DIY

Why more women are picking up power tools

The green man’s burden

What responsibilities do individuals have to stop climate change?

Pacific pathfinders

The best sailors in the world

How to find your way in the Pacific

Oceania’s wayfinding skills

Cereal killer

The life-giving, death-dealing power of corn

Desert island dismal science

Why economists love “Robinson Crusoe”

Missiles and lies

The truth about the passenger jet Putin’s men shot down

A rush for colourless gold

Meet the boffins and buccaneers drilling for hydrogen

Rosemont, Illinois

Inside the last true political machine in America

Hollywood and AI

AI is stalking the last lions of Hollywood

Business

4,000 terabits under the sea

Big tech and geopolitics are reshaping the internet’s plumbing

Seeking independence

How an ugly marital feud could change Indian business

Straitened out

Attacks on shipping in the Red Sea are a blow to global trade

Bartleby

The return of The Economist’s agony uncle

Schumpeter

Can anyone bar Europe do luxury?

Finance & economics

From the ruins

Which economy did best in 2023?

Lost half-decade

Hong Kong’s problems trace back to China. And also America

Love the sinner

Can the carbon-offset market be saved?

Buttonwood

Why bitcoin is up by almost 150% this year

Free exchange

Where does the modern state come from?

Science & technology

Robotics

Delivery robots will transform Christmas

Palaeovirology

Reviving ancient viruses can help fight modern ones

Flying in a flash

A new type of jet engine could revive supersonic air travel

Culture

Holiday history

“’Twas the Night Before Christmas” turns 200 this year

Back Story

Holding out for a hero in 2024

World in a dish

For a Christmas drink, eggnog does not have a heartwarming history

Economic & financial indicators

Indicators

Economic data, commodities and markets

Obituary

The comfort of apples