On What Really Matters, Walter Russell Mead discusses the possibility of a recession, the new Chinese railway in Africa, and how Donald Trump’s approach to Vladimir Putin compares with Franklin D. Roosevelt’s to Joseph Stalin and Richard Nixon’s to Leonid Brezhnev.
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Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan, Japan's Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, and Indonesia's Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka during the G20 Leaders' Summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, on November 22, 2025. (Getty Images)