Compass | Substack

World Cup fever from Tashkent to Coney Island Avenue

In New York, immigrants from Uzbekistan finally have a team to cheer.

READ THE LATEST

Recent posts

Palantir next door?

In northern Norway, a tech billionaire’s new property raises questions that hit too close to home.

Jun 9 • Brett Simpson

The last thing we need is more marches

Here’s what to do instead.

Jun 5 • Greg Satell

The impious curiosity of archaeologists

Neil Silberman reports from Israel in 1985 about a struggle for political and spiritual power over excavation sites.

Jun 2 • Compass

Compass

Compass

Global issues, culture and travel, with reviews, photography and art. Published by the Institute of Current World Affairs.

Global Currents

World Cup fever from Tashkent to Coney Island Avenue

In New York, immigrants from Uzbekistan finally have a team to cheer.

Jun 12 • Joshua Levkowitz

Palantir next door?

In northern Norway, a tech billionaire’s new property raises questions that hit too close to home.

Jun 9 • Brett Simpson

The last thing we need is more marches

Here’s what to do instead.

Jun 5 • Greg Satell

The changing geopolitics of LGBTQ+ liberation

What will a future without US leadership look like?

May 26 • Fabrice Houdart

Wide Lens

The secret plan to murder a pope

Forty-five years after the attempt on John Paul II’s life, the Kremlin has yet to be officially blamed.

Apr 21 • Kalb, Marvin

Revolution redux

The early Soviet writer Vladimir Zazubrin’s depictions of cruelty and violence have largely been forgotten. It’s time to change that.

Apr 7 • Dmitry Bykov

A writer tries to make sense of a violent world

Mar 31 • Anna Badkhen

Dateline Moscow: The Cuban missile crisis

Reporting from the Soviet capital about seven days that changed the world

Jan 27 • Kalb, Marvin

The Critics

Review: An Unforeseen Revolution

Scott Anderson gives an engaging but myopic account of the 1979 Iranian revolution.

Feb 6 • Paul Rahe

‘No need for a world without us’

Whatever happened to North Korea?

Nov 4, 2025 • Dmitry Kharitonov

Dreams come back to haunt us

A new translation reflects how people under authoritarianism process reality.

Aug 12, 2025 • Polina Barskova

Challenges facing new music.

Jun 18, 2025 • Roger Reynolds

The Conversation

An ‘almost revolutionary’ moment for Iran

A conversation with Barry Rosen, former US diplomat and hostage in 1979-1981

Jan 15 • Robert Coalson and Barry Rosen

End of US sanctions only a first step for new Syria

A conversation with Andrew Tabler

Dec 16, 2025 • Robert Coalson and Andrew J Tabler

Lessons from the post-WWII refugee crisis

Sheila Fitzpatrick discusses her new book about the mass resettlement of displaced Soviets.

Sep 23, 2025 • Dmitry Kharitonov and Sheila Fitzpatrick

Going toe to toe with ‘vandals and demagogues’

A conversation with Jeffrey Gedmin.

Jul 21, 2025 • Jeffrey Gedmin and Robert Coalson

Postcard

Up the Amazon River

The bustling jungle region is virgin only in the imagination.

May 19 • Rowland Elie Robinson

Tradition and bonhomie in Lisbon

Ritalinos, a restaurant in the heart of the Portuguese capital with the city in its heart

Apr 24 • Felicia Gonzalez

The highway of death

Running the Kuwait Desert Marathon

Apr 17 • Bryn Barnard

New York meets Jollibee

A Filipino institution takes on America.

Mar 27 • Joshua Levkowitz

Photography

Memorial Day in France

The French-American friendship lives on in monuments and ceremonies.

May 26 • Elizabeth Wise

Southwest China

Photos from Chongqing and Chengdu

May 1 • Steven Tagle

Young Hungarians get first taste of a new era

In Budapest, the victory party felt like an independence celebration.

Apr 13 • Elizabeth Wise

Remembering Isfahan

Photos from Iran

Mar 20 • Bryn Barnard

The Venice of Africa

Ganvié, Benin: The water people of Nokoue Lake

Feb 27 • Douglas E. Lyon

Literature

Real Istanbul people

Anger and envy in Erdoğan’s Turkey

Apr 28

Mar 6 • Vesna Main

"February Sea" and "Reeds"

Feb 20 • Susan Brind Morrow

A poem by Maria Nazos

Jan 23 • Maria Nazos

The Needle

When chaos is the endgame

On motives for war

Mar 25 • Gregory Feifer

Introducing Compass

A new journal about global cultures and developments from the Institute of Current World Affairs.

Jun 19, 2025 • Gregory Feifer

From the Archive

The impious curiosity of archaeologists

Neil Silberman reports from Israel in 1985 about a struggle for political and spiritual power over excavation sites.

Jun 2 • Compass

Poking around Morelia’s garbage

Willy Foote looks into a conflict between Mexican garbage collectors in 1996.

May 22 • Compass

At both center and edge in the Strait of Hormuz

In Oman a decade ago, remembering everyday life at a global chokepoint

Apr 3 • Scott Thos. Erich

ICWA@100: Visiting Mahatma Gandhi in colonial India

Phillips Talbot spends time with the visionary leader and his community of disciples in 1941.

Dec 30, 2025 • Compass

#nojs-banner { position: fixed; bottom: 0; left: 0; padding: 16px 16px 16px 32px; width: 100%; box-sizing: border-box; background: red; color: white; font-family: -apple-system, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-size: 13px; line-height: 13px; } #nojs-banner a { color: inherit; text-decoration: underline; } This site requires JavaScript to run correctly. Please turn on JavaScript or unblock scripts