Greenland, the world\u2019s largest island, has been in the news a lot lately amid U.S. President Donald Trump\u2019s repeated promises to wrest control of the territory from Denmark. But it\u2019s far from the only island that is a geopolitical flash point.<\/p>\n
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\u2019s big economic bet\u2014which entailed abandoning long-standing ties with Taiwan for China\u2014to a Dispatch from Cyprus, which has long been divided between a European Union member state and Turkish-recognized territory.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
Greenland, the world\u2019s largest island, has been in the news a lot lately amid U.S. President Donald Trump\u2019s repeated promises to wrest control of the territory from Denmark. But it\u2019s far from the only island that is a geopolitical flash point.<\/p>\n
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\u2019s big economic bet\u2014which entailed abandoning long-standing ties with Taiwan for China\u2014to a Dispatch from Cyprus, which has long been divided between a European Union member state and Turkish-recognized territory.<\/p>\n
This edition of the newsletter brings you into these islands and beyond, exploring life in places caught in the crosshairs of great-power ambitions.<\/p>\n
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Foreign Policy illustration\/Rand McNally and Company\/David Rumsey Historical Map Collection<\/span> <\/p>\n<\/div>\n Map projections may be key to understand a presidential obsession, Nick Danforth writes.<\/p>\n 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<\/span> <\/p>\n<\/div>\n 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\u2019s Christina Lu writes.<\/p>\n A woman walks toward a U.N.-run border crossing at Nicosia\u2019s Ledra Street in southern Cyprus in August 2023. The street was referred to as the \u201cMurder Mile\u201d during the 1950s Cypriot rebellions against British rule.Richard Morgan photos for Foreign Policy<\/span> <\/p>\n<\/div>\n Fifty years after partition, a divided Cyprus somehow manages to get by, Richard Morgan writes.<\/p>\n People walk past a Taiwanese flag in New Taipei City, Taiwan, on Jan. 13, the day of the island\u2019s presidential election.Sam Yeh\/AFP via Getty Images<\/span> <\/p>\n<\/div>\n Journalists flocking to cover life inside a geopolitical flash point often distort the reality on the ground, Clarissa Wei writes.<\/p>\n 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<\/span> <\/p>\n<\/div>\n Okinawans continue to pay the price for being caught between great powers, A.A. Bastian writes.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\nHow Big Does Donald Trump Think Greenland Is?<\/strong><\/a><\/h3>\n
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\n ![\"A](\"https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/nauru-geopolitics-island-resources-2014-02-19T120000Z_1104491945_GM1EA2J0V0501_RTRMADP_3_AUSTRALIA-NAURU.jpg\")
\n <\/span>The Country With Nothing Left to Lose<\/strong><\/a><\/h3>\n
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\n ![\"A](\"https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/1-Cyprus-ceasefire-50-years-Richard-Morgan.jpeg\")
\n <\/span>The Island Stuck in Limbo<\/strong><\/a><\/h3>\n
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\n ![\"A](\"https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Taiwan-election-China-GettyImages-1920707929.jpg\")
\n <\/span>What the Western Media Gets Wrong About Taiwan<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n
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\n ![\"An](\"https:\/\/foreignpolicy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/CHINA-JAPAN-US-OKINAWA-GettyImages-1243733409.png\")
\n <\/span>Okinawa Is in the Crosshairs of China\u2019s Ambitions<\/strong><\/a><\/h3>\n