Patrick Lawrence

Patrick Lawrence is a longtime columnist, essayist, critic, and lecturer. He was a correspondent abroad (writing as Patrick L. Smith) for many years, chiefly for the Far Eastern Economic Review, the International Herald Tribune, and The New Yorker, and chiefly in Asia. His most recent books are Somebody Else’s Century: East and West in a Post-Western World (Pantheon) and Time No Longer: America After the American Century (Yale). His next book is tentatively titled After Exceptionalism. His website is patricklawrence.us.

October 20, 2026

Columns/Geopolitics

Europe’s Refugee Crisis: Merkel’s Humanitarian Gamble

The then German Chancellor Angela Merkel opened the floodgates to refugees from underdeveloped and Muslim-majority countries, allowing them to enter Germany in the name of humanitarian policy. At that time, several well-meaning

Columns/Geopolitics

India: LoC Infiltration Attempts Persist

Indian security forces have foiled at least ten infiltration attempts along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir in 2026, killing nine terrorists in five incidents, according to partial SATP data. Although official figures indicate a sustained decline in

October 20, 2026

Baloch Insurgency Intensifies as BRG Escalates Attacks

Columns/Geopolitics

The Baloch Republican Guards (BRG) have sharply escalated their operations in 2026, with at least 23 security personnel killed in six BRG-linked incidents, according

The Indian Ocean’s Security Partnerships: When Cooperation Becomes Dependence

Sri Lanka Guardian Essays

For Sri Lanka, maritime security is not an abstract geopolitical concern. The island’s location near major shipping routes creates opportunities for trade, fisheries, and

After Nasrallah: What His Death Means for Netanyahu’s Future

October 1, 2024

Israel

You have probably heard by now, or heard about, Bibi Netanyahu’s viciously vituperative hate speech before the U.N. General Assembly last Friday. The Israeli prime minister let it be known he hates more or

Psychosis and Its Consequences

September 20, 2023

Columns

Remember that startling remark Karl Rove made while serving as an adviser to George W. Bush? It was October 2004, the so-called war on terror was going full tilt, and Rove was

Europe: Shrinking Within

October 24, 2022

Defence/Diplomacy/Geopolitics/United States

Absolutely remarkable, Western media’s determination to ignore the recent Baltic Sea detonations, which knocked out the Nord Stream I and II gas pipelines. A major piece of Europe’s energy infrastructure, the joint