No tanks required
Feature: Why is Turkey’s government moving so hard to kill off its opposition? Ezgi Başaran on the weakness behind a new show of strength.
Players
Extra: Gulf royals have moved billions into global football. Now what?
Front lines
Feature: Why would football supporters cheer on dictators buying their clubs? David Goldblatt on identity, loyalty, and what all this money really pays for.
Total ownership
Feature: What do Middle Eastern states want with European football clubs? Sarath K. Ganji on autocratic governments’ ambitious move into the global game.
An Orwellian war
Feature: Will Ukrainian democracy survive the Russian assault? Serhii Plokhy on the historical clues.
Code black
Feature: How did a criminal industry worth tens of billions entrench itself in Cambodia? Jacob Sims on the nexus of organized crime and autocracy in Southeast Asia.
‘It’s a question of Party discipline’
Feature: Why are business leaders across China disappearing into prisons? Jiangnan Zhu on the motives behind Beijing’s anti-corruption campaign.
The three-body problem
How much does North Korea depend on China and Russia for its future? Rachel Minyoung Lee on nuclear weapons, technology transfers, and a newly emboldened Kim Jong Un.
‘A huge, flying conflict of interest’
Feature: What does Qatar want from America? Nick Cleveland-Stout on Doha’s massive influence operation in Washington.
‘It’s a scramble’
Feature: Why are so many foreign powers involving themselves in Africa’s deadliest civil war? Alex de Waal on the plunder of Sudan.
