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The geopolitics of the Winter Olympics

Italy’s Winter Olympics opening ceremony kicks off in just a few hours, meaning we’ll soon burn our evenings watching snowboarders called ‘Tanner’ and ‘Yui’ pull sick Frontside Double Cork 1080 Lien-to-Melon Reverts. But it also means that, as with any event bringing the world together, geopolitics is now in the air (doing a sick Frontside […]

Geopolitics 6 February, 2026
How ICE extends beyond the US

For a team of ex-diplomats normally more focused on events beyond the US border, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) actions started as more of a domestic story. Sure, immigration enforcement is inherently international: those with big undocumented diasporas (Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador) have long been issuing sharper citizen advisories urging their nationals to […]

The Americas 29 January, 2026
Maduro is gone: now what?

While you were already soft-pedalling your 2026 resolutions, it turns out Donald Trump was approving Operation Absolute Resolve, before watching live from Mar-a-Lago as US cyber ops plunged Caracas into darkness, 150 US military aircraft circled above, and Delta Force troops nabbed Maduro and his wife as they fled to a saferoom in Tiuna base. […]

The Americas 5 January, 2026
Behold… Pax Silica!

For those who didn’t blow a decade learning Latin so you can use the Vatican’s famous Latin-language ATMs, pax means peace and silica is the mineral throughout the Earth’s crust, like sand — refine it enough and you get the foundation of modern tech: silicon. The State Department just launched Pax Silica as a US-led […]

Technology 16 December, 2025
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Newsletter
Events
Podcast

Intrigue Outloud

All the best things about the International Intrigue newsletter, straight to your podcast app of choice.

Listen on
Spotify

Listen on
Apple Podcast

Listen on
RSS

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Explore On
Top Briefings
The geopolitics of the Winter Olympics

Italy’s Winter Olympics opening ceremony kicks off in just a few hours, meaning we’ll soon burn our evenings watching snowboarders called ‘Tanner’ and ‘Yui’ pull sick Frontside Double Cork 1080 Lien-to-Melon Reverts. But it also means that, as with any event bringing the world together, geopolitics is now in the air (doing a sick Frontside […]

Geopolitics 6 February, 2026
How ICE extends beyond the US

For a team of ex-diplomats normally more focused on events beyond the US border, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) actions started as more of a domestic story. Sure, immigration enforcement is inherently international: those with big undocumented diasporas (Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador) have long been issuing sharper citizen advisories urging their nationals to […]

The Americas 29 January, 2026
Maduro is gone: now what?

While you were already soft-pedalling your 2026 resolutions, it turns out Donald Trump was approving Operation Absolute Resolve, before watching live from Mar-a-Lago as US cyber ops plunged Caracas into darkness, 150 US military aircraft circled above, and Delta Force troops nabbed Maduro and his wife as they fled to a saferoom in Tiuna base. […]

The Americas 5 January, 2026
Behold… Pax Silica!

For those who didn’t blow a decade learning Latin so you can use the Vatican’s famous Latin-language ATMs, pax means peace and silica is the mineral throughout the Earth’s crust, like sand — refine it enough and you get the foundation of modern tech: silicon. The State Department just launched Pax Silica as a US-led […]

Technology 16 December, 2025
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India Foxconn factory deal falls through

Foxconn, the world’s largest tech manufacturer, has pulled out from a vaunted $19.5B joint venture to build a semiconductor plant in India.

Foxconn is kinda a big deal:

  • 📱 It makes products for giants like Apple, Microsoft and IBM
  • 🧑‍🏭 It employs three quarters of a million folks worldwide, and
  • 💰 And it rakes in almost a quarter trillion in revenues each year.

The Taiwanese company didn’t say why the deal fell through, but reports suggest it’s related to delays in Indian government incentives and approvals.

Intrigue’s take: Prime Minister Modi has been looking to boost this sector for a decade, and he seemed to have the wind at his back: Foxconn was just one of many spooked firms looking at India as a way to diversify away from China.

So just as this deal’s announcement was a real head-turning moment for India last year, its cancellation will now turn heads too.

Also worth noting:

  • Prime Minister Modi launched his ‘Make in India’ initiative in 2014, aimed at boosting Indian manufacturing.
  • Foxconn’s plant was slated for possible construction in Gujarat, India’s manufacturing hub and Prime Minister Modi’s home state.
  • Foxconn already has (lower tech) factories in the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.

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