Do you remember the REM song “It’s the End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Good)”? It’s been on my mind lately. The song was released in November 1987, about a month before US President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev signed the arms control treaty that marked the end of the Cold War. Michael Stipe, the band’s frontman, said the idea came to him after a deep sleep. But its appeal to listeners may have been because it came at the end of an anxious time for the world, just before the dawn of geopolitics. It is not far from the “end of the world” to the “end of history,” a term that readers of this magazine know very well.
Long after the fall of the Berlin Wall and the optimistic ’90s pop sounds that came with it, this particular REM song has endured like an anvil—and a recurring vibe. It returned briefly around December 2012, when people around the world latched onto the idea of the predicted Maya apocalypse. And then the song reportedly saw a surge in streaming during the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, in 2026, I would suggest that songs about the end of the world come back into fashion once again, reflecting well the news of endless war and the accompanying crises of food, energy, inflation, migration, and more.
Remember the REM song “It’s the End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Good)”? It’s been on my mind lately. The song was released in November 1987, about a month before US President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev signed the arms control treaty that marked the end of the Cold War. Michael Stipe, the band’s frontman, said the idea came to him after a deep sleep. But its appeal to listeners may have been because it came at the end of an anxious time for the world, just before the dawn of geopolitics. It is not far from the “end of the world” to the “end of history,” a term that readers of this magazine know very well.
Long after the fall of the Berlin Wall and the optimistic pop sounds of the ’90s that came with it, this particular REM song has endured like an anvil—and a recurring vibe. It returned briefly around December 2012, when people around the world latched onto the idea of the predicted Maya apocalypse. And then the song reportedly saw a surge in streaming during the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, in 2026, I would suggest that songs about the end of the world come back into fashion once again, reflecting well the news of endless war and the accompanying crises of food, energy, inflation, migration, and more.
Is this the end of the world as we know it? Is that a good thing or a bad thing? Will it eventually lead, as it has at least once before, to a more hopeful moment?
I can’t claim to have the answers. But ours Summer 2026 release it has enough food for thought. We have put together a a collection of 10 essays which examines the movements, ideas, and geopolitical foundations that are disintegrating—slowly but seemingly all at once.
Joshua Leifer explores how the once-unshakable US-Israel alliance “has entered a period of utter decline.” Nathalie Tocci it goes further, saying that the relationship between the United States and Europe—the cornerstone of the liberal international system—has disappeared. It won’t come back, Tocci says, no matter who replaces US President Donald Trump in a few years. James Traub has long covered the United Nations and tells the story of the international organization’s apparent decline, Washington’s hastened decline and its changing priorities.
What will the world be like without cooperation with these organizations? Much will depend on how countries use this time. Anton Jäger he points to the declining role of political parties, which he sees as “increasingly anachronistic,” as one factor to consider. The parties and the public will need to calculate where things went wrong, with neoliberalism, Branko Milanovic he writes. Young voters around the world will no doubt ask why they have been left out of the climate crisis, which Leah Aronowsky he struggles while looking at how Western intellectuals failed to come up with a plan to deal with the main threat to civilization. The problem may be systemic: Collective action is harder to come by given that international law is weaker than it has been in decades, according to Rosa Brookswho calls that trend not only a moral waste but a “structural disaster.” Imagine how the right to asylum now feels like an artifact of a bygone era, like Linda Kinstler he argues.
Some of the old engines of the world economy are exiting. China’s record of double-digit growth rates, which fueled global output booms, is lost forever, FP’s James Palmer prediction. But can we even predict the future anymore? Jonathan White it is very uncertain, showing how people now seem to be trapped in a state of risk rather than hope.
You will find more questions than answers in this package. However, if we hope for a new and better world, I feel that we must fully participate in the agitation.
Much more in this edition, as always, with a timely essay and Hal’s products examine how the Iran war has left the United States overwhelmed—and an easy target for China. Bracing reads all over the place, I know, but I hope you enjoy this version all the same. And for those who are in the Northern Hemisphere, and the solar scale beside it.
As before,
Ravi Agrawal
