International | Star wars: a new hope

Can Donald Trump’s Iron Dome plan keep America safe?

In a dangerous world, cutting-edge missile defence is all the rage

Photograph: Reuters

JUST BEFORE Donald Trump became the Republican nominee for president, the party published its foreign-policy goals: “Prevent world war three, restore peace in Europe and in the Middle East, and build a great Iron Dome missile-defence shield over our entire country”. The last of those promises has become a staple of the Trump campaign. In his speech accepting the nomination, he promised that an American missile shield will ensure “no enemy can strike our homeland”,  adding that it would be “built entirely in the USA”.

Explore more

From the August 17th 2024 edition

Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents

Explore the edition

Discover more

Illustration of a metal periscope emerging from a large pile of white ballot boxes against a solid blue background

Over a billion have voted in 2024: has democracy won?

Half the world has had elections so far this year

Photo illustration of from left, Kim jong Un, Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping and Ali Khomenei, all in profile overlapping and facing left

A new “quartet of chaos” threatens America

The rulers of China, Iran, North Korea and Russia are growing worryingly close


A man sits outside a United Nations-run school in Khan Younis, Gaza

A UN vote on Palestine underlines America’s weakening clout

Russia and China are riding a surge of support for the Palestinians since the Gaza war started


Sport is getting hotter, harder and deadlier

As players vomit and boil, even John McEnroe reckons “it is not humane”

How encrypted messaging apps conquered the world

And why governments want to wrest back control

The poisonous global politics of water

Polarisation makes it harder to adapt to climate change