Now That Americans Love Soccer, We’ve Also Become Its Referee

How FIFA Corruption Charges And New U.S. Fans Could Alter the Pitch for the World's Most Popular Sport

Not too long ago, Americans couldn’t care less about the world’s most popular sport. Now we care so much we are not only going to be a force to be reckoned with on the soccer pitch, we’re going to try cleaning up the sport’s international governing body. Hence the breathtaking corruption charges brought on Wednesday by U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch (who’ll become a global rock star with this case) against a number of FIFA’s top executives, several of whom were extradited to the United States by Swiss law enforcement. …

by Andrés Martinez | June 1, 2015

Why the Americas Are Letting Venezuela Self-Destruct

At the Turn of the 21st Century, Latin American Nations Made Commitments to Defend Democracy. Those Days Are Gone.

by Christopher Sabatini | March 5, 2015

Elected leaders across the hemisphere gathered to condemn and possibly sanction a neighboring president who closed down independent media and harassed political opponents.

Venezuela? If only. That was Peru in 2000.

The …

Will Cuba Go From Enemy to Frenemy?

What the Resumption of Diplomatic Relations Means for the U.S. and Our Island Neighbor

February 28, 2015

Just this past week, historic talks were held in Washington with the goal of inching closer to a goal that, for decades, has been unimaginable: restored diplomatic relations between the …

Pope Francis Is Making a Big Mistake

Visiting America and Skipping California Is Like Going to Italy Without Seeing Rome

by Joe Mathews | February 26, 2015

Dear Pope Francis,

You may be infallible, but your scheduler? Not so much.

The itinerary for your highly anticipated trip to the United States this September defies belief: You are only visiting …

Bring It On, China

Geoff Dyer of the ‘Financial Times’ on Why China Will Ultimately Fail to Unseat the U.S. and Dominate the World

by Sarah Rothbard | February 14, 2014

“I’m the guy who went to live in China and came away believing in the U.S.,” former Financial Times Beijing bureau chief Geoff Dyer told a Zócalo audience.

Dyer, the author …

Beijing Steps Out of the Shadows

The Contest of the Century

by Geoff Dyer | February 12, 2014

As Beijing bureau chief for the Financial Times, Geoff Dyer watched China begin to wield its power not just for domestic economic growth but to expand its geopolitical reach around …

international relations