Country of the year: The Economist picks

After decades of overpopulation worries, the country now has the opposite concern. We examine India’s unusual demographic turn, and why it is a wider warning to the world. Vegan substitutes have broadly improved in recent years—so why is there no good vegan cheese? And rememberin ...  Show more

Nigel Farage, leader of the populist-right Reform UK party, wants Britons to be enraged by a killing in the street. We ask why his tone has changed from “colour-blind” to race-baiting. NATO must now take seriously the idea that America is pulling back; we ask how it is adjusting. ...  Show more

In the past 12 months, there has been no lack of news. Editors at The Economist have picked their way through the rubble to uncover some optimism: <a href="https://www.economist.com/leaders/2024/12/19/the-economists-country-of-the-year-for-2024?utm_campaign=a.io&utm_medium=aud ...

Months ago, <a href="https://www.economist.com/europe/2025/03/30/zelensky-trump-and-putin-may-all-have-done-u-turns-on-elections-in-ukraine?utm_campaign=a.io&utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&utm_source=theintelligence&utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_artic ...

Rafal Trzaskowski, the liberal mayor expected to win the first round cleanly only <a href="https://www.economist.com/europe/2025/05/18/the-liberal-favourite-stumbles-in-polands-presidential-election?utm_campaign=a.io&utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&utm_source=theintelligence&utm_c ...

After a