Section
The story behind the news
The roots of the conflicts and crises that make the headlines.
Why India and Pakistan fight over Kashmir
In May 2025, the two nuclear-armed neighbors exchanged missiles and drones for four days. Their rivalry was born in 1947, when the British Empire divided the subcontinent in a hurry.
Cuban Missile Crisis: the 13 days the world came close to nuclear war
With a war involving a nuclear power in the Middle East, the question of how to avoid the worst is back. In October 1962, the answer came down to letters, a secret deal and one officer on a submarine.
Essequibo: the 127-year dispute between Venezuela and Guyana on Brazil's border
Venezuela has claimed two-thirds of neighboring Guyana since the 19th century. The oil found in 2015 raised the stakes, and Brazil sits right in the way.
Why Korea was split in two, and why the war never ended
Two American officers picked a line on a map in 1945. Eighty years later, it still separates families, and the two Koreas are technically still at war.
China and Taiwan: the civil war that never officially ended
In 1949, the government that lost China's civil war fled to an island 130 km off the mainland. More than 75 years later, Beijing still calls Taiwan a breakaway province.
Why Israel and Iran became enemies after being allies
Until 1979, Iran sold oil to Israel and the two shared intelligence. A revolution turned everything upside down, and the rivalry ended in open war.
Berlin Wall: how a confused press conference brought down the world's most guarded border
The wall went up in a single night in 1961 and stood for 28 years. It fell in one night in 1989, after a spokesman read out a note he did not fully understand.
Why Russia went to war with Ukraine: a story that starts centuries ago
In 1994, Ukraine gave up the third-largest nuclear arsenal in the world. Twenty years later, it lost Crimea.