Foreign Exchanges | Derek Davison | Substack

World Roundups

World roundup: March 3 2026

Stories from Iran, Afghanistan, Ukraine, and elsewhere

18 hrs ago • Derek Davison

World roundup: March 2 2026

Stories from Iran, South Sudan, Haiti, and elsewhere

Mar 3 • Derek Davison

Iran war roundup: March 1 2026

Day 2 of Donald Trump's war of choice

Mar 2 • Derek Davison

Iran roundup: February 28 2026

The President of Peace starts a war

Feb 28 • Derek Davison

World roundup: February 27 2026

Stories from Iran, Afghanistan, Ethiopia, and elsewhere

Feb 28 • Derek Davison

FX Columns

The Cult of Hercules-Mammon is Back

Donald Trump’s Attack on Venezuela and Latin America

Jan 13 • Alex Aviña

The Day That (Sort of) Changed Everything

Some thoughts on America, 9/11, and surviving bad times.

Nov 27, 2025 • Derek Davison

Trump, Nigeria, and “Christian Genocide”

Donald Trump is threatening to invade Nigeria on dubious claims of a genocide against the country's Christian community. Here's why the Christian Right…

Nov 6, 2025 • Alex Thurston

Sex and the Church

Review of Lower Than The Angels: A History of Sex and Christianity, by Diarmaid MacCulloch

Oct 14, 2025 • Samuel Clowes Huneke

Thin Ice: The History of US Involvement in Greenland

Donald Trump's quest to acquire Greenland has a precedent in US Cold War history. We should consider it a cautionary tale.

Sep 16, 2025 • Gretchen Heefner

Foreign Exchanges: the Podcast

1:25:27

How to Invent a Renaissance, with Ada Palmer

A discussion of the Renaissance and why it looms so large European history.

Jul 7, 2025 • Derek Davison

1:20:35

The Wild World of Medieval Women, with Eleanor Janega

Foreign Exchanges goes medieval to learn about what life was like for women and how their place in society has (and has not) changed.

Dec 18, 2024 • Derek Davison

1:17:35

Assyria and Its Empire, with Eckart Frahm

Understanding "The World's First Empire."

Jul 1, 2024 • Derek Davison

1:06:42

Empires of the Steppes, with Kenneth Harl

The history of the many peoples who menaced, and connected, societies across Eurasia.

Mar 18, 2024 • Derek Davison

58:05

"Unfreedom" in Early Islamic Society, with Elizabeth Urban

Listen now (58 min) | What positions did slaves and freedmen occupy during the formative period of Islamic history?

Jun 27, 2023 • Derek Davison

Recent posts

💬 Ask Derek Anything for March 2-8, 2026

It's Foreign Exchanges’ weekly discussion thread!

Mar 2 • Derek Davison

Iran war roundup: March 1 2026

Day 2 of Donald Trump's war of choice

Mar 2 • Derek Davison

Iran roundup: February 28 2026

The President of Peace starts a war

Feb 28 • Derek Davison

World roundup: February 27 2026

Stories from Iran, Afghanistan, Ethiopia, and elsewhere

Feb 28 • Derek Davison

World roundup: February 26 2026

Stories from Iran, Afghanistan, Cuba, and elsewhere

Feb 27 • Derek Davison

World roundup: February 25 2026

Stories from Iran, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Cuba, and elsewhere

Feb 26 • Derek Davison

Foreign Exchanges

Foreign Exchanges

Daily roundups of world news and thoughtful commentary on US foreign policy.

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