The Islands Caught in Global Crosshairs
The Islands Caught in Global Crosshairs
Geopolitical flash points, from Nauru to Greenland.
A satellite image shows the tiny island of Nauru in the South Pacific in June 1999. Planet Observer/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
Greenland, the world’s largest island, has been in the news a lot lately amid U.S. President Donald Trump’s repeated promises to wrest control of the territory from Denmark. But it’s far from the only island that is a geopolitical flash point.
In recent years, FP has published a number of essays that tease out the connections between island politics and global affairs, from a Feature on Nauru’s big economic bet—which entailed abandoning long-standing ties with Taiwan for China—to a Dispatch from Cyprus, which has long been divided between a European Union member state and Turkish-recognized territory.
Greenland, the world’s largest island, has been in the news a lot lately amid U.S. President Donald Trump’s repeated promises to wrest control of the territory from Denmark. But it’s far from the only island that is a geopolitical flash point.
In recent years, FP has published a number of essays that tease out the connections between island politics and global affairs, from a Feature on Nauru’s big economic bet—which entailed abandoning long-standing ties with Taiwan for China—to a Dispatch from Cyprus, which has long been divided between a European Union member state and Turkish-recognized territory.
This edition of the newsletter brings you into these islands and beyond, exploring life in places caught in the crosshairs of great-power ambitions.
Foreign Policy illustration/Rand McNally and Company/David Rumsey Historical Map Collection
How Big Does Donald Trump Think Greenland Is?
Map projections may be key to understand a presidential obsession, Nick Danforth writes.
A fisherman is silhouetted at sunset at the northern end of the airport runway on the coast of Nauru on April 15, 2010. Rod Henshaw/Reuters
The Country With Nothing Left to Lose
In its quest for cash, the tiny island nation of Nauru has tried it all. Its latest scheme may be its riskiest bet yet, FP’s Christina Lu writes.
A woman walks toward a U.N.-run border crossing at Nicosia’s Ledra Street in southern Cyprus in August 2023. The street was referred to as the “Murder Mile” during the 1950s Cypriot rebellions against British rule.Richard Morgan photos for Foreign Policy
The Island Stuck in Limbo
Fifty years after partition, a divided Cyprus somehow manages to get by, Richard Morgan writes.
People walk past a Taiwanese flag in New Taipei City, Taiwan, on Jan. 13, the day of the island’s presidential election.Sam Yeh/AFP via Getty Images
What the Western Media Gets Wrong About Taiwan
Journalists flocking to cover life inside a geopolitical flash point often distort the reality on the ground, Clarissa Wei writes.
An MV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft takes off from U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma near Ginowan, Okinawa prefecture, on Aug. 23, 2022.Philip Fong/AFP via Getty Images
Okinawa Is in the Crosshairs of China’s Ambitions
Okinawans continue to pay the price for being caught between great powers, A.A. Bastian writes.
Chloe Hadavas is a senior editor at Foreign Policy. X: @Hadavas
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