Iran Is a Problem Without a Solution | The e-CNY and China’s Quest for Smarter Surveillance | The Realists' Grand Experiment, and more

How to Swerve Donald Trump’s Tariffs  (Economist)
Using cunning or flattery is a good start.

The World Could Stop Central Africa’s Deadly Mpox Outbreak If It Wanted To  (Chloe Orkin, The Conversation)
The global outbreak of mpox in 2022-23 affected more than 100 countries and grabbed the attention of the scientific community. Research on mpox has intensified since.
The virus behind the outbreak, technically mpox clade IIb, is spread through close physical contact. During the 2022 outbreak it was found in both sperm and vaginal fluid for the first time. This suggests it is sexually transmissible.
Overall, deaths in the 2022 outbreak were very low: 0.1%. However, in people with very weak immune systems – such as those with advanced HIV – deaths were much higher, at around 15%.

Cambodia’s Haunted Present: 50 Years After Khmer Rouge’s Rise, Murderous Legacy Looms Large  (Sophal Ear, The Conversation)
On April 17, 1975, tanks rolled into the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh, to cheering crowds who believed that the country’s long civil war might finally be over.
But what followed was one of the worst genocides of the 20th century. During a brutal four-year rule, the communist-nationalist ideologues of the Khmer Rouge killed between 1.6 million and 3 million people through executions, forced labor and starvation. It represented a quarter of the country’s population at the time.
Fifty years on, the Khmer Rouge’s legacy continues to shape Cambodia – politically, socially, economically and emotionally. It’s etched into every Cambodian’s bones – including mine.

China’s New Underwater Tool Cuts Deep, Exposing Vulnerability of Vital Network of Subsea Cables  (John Calabrese, The Conversation)
Chinese researchers have unveiled a new deep-sea tool capable of cutting through the world’s most secure subsea cables − and it has many in the West feeling a little jittery.
The development, first revealed in February 2025 in the Chinese-language journal Mechanical Engineering, was touted as a tool for civilian salvage and seabed mining. But the ability to sever communications lines 13,000 feet (4,000 meters) below the sea’s surface − far beyond the operational range of most existing infrastructure − means that the tool can be used for other purposes with far-reaching implications for global communications and security.
That is because undersea cables sustain the world’s international internet traffic, financial transactions and diplomatic exchanges. Recent incidents of cable damage near Taiwan and in northern Europe have already raised concerns of these systems’ vulnerabilities − and suspicions about the role of state-linked actors.

The Realists’ Grand Experiment  (Raphael S. Cohen, Foreign Policy)
This administration will leave an indelible mark on how international relations is taught for a generation to come.