January 20, 2026 ❧ The “new world order,” a secret federal bank bail out, Eric Adams’ crypto scam, and hopeful gorilla twins!

Plus: Mamdami and Trump are texting, Ugandan president cuts internet during election, Trump’s new Board of Peace, and Nike’s tone-deaf MLK Day basketball shoe. 

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HERE & ABROAD

❧ DEEP DIVE: A “New World Order” ❧

Last week, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney declared a new world order. He made the proclamation, which was as much an observation, in Beijing, during the first visit of a Canadian prime minister to China in a decade, stating: “The world has changed much since that last visit. I believe the progress that we have made, the partnership, sets us up well for the new world order.” Carney had flown east to make a trade deal with the country that heretofore Canada viewed with intense suspicion. In 2018, China jailed two Canadian diplomats after Canada helped the U.S. arrest Meng Wanzhou, Huawei’s chief financial officer, on charges of fraud. Today, Canada will let in 49,000 Chinese electric vehicles at a greatly reduced tariff, down to 6.1 percent from 100 percent, and China will similarly drop tariffs on canola, peas and seafood from Canada. 

Carney was not shy about the reasons for his visit. Under the Trump administration, the United States is no longer a reliable trade partner and Canada must pivot. Europe is following suit, going directly to Trump’s fetish object, Latin America. The European Union and Latin America signed a free trade agreement, decades in the making, that will eliminate 90 percent of tariffs between the two regions over the next 15 years. (The deal was not without controversy. Farmers staged protests in Greece, France, Poland, Belgium, worried that the deal would gut local agricultural industries.)

Art by Aidan Y-M from Current Affairs Magazine Vol. 9, Issue 1

"It reflects a clear and deliberate choice: We choose fair trade over tariffs. We choose a productive long-term partnership over isolation," European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said at the signing ceremony in Paraguay. 

These deals are an acknowledgement; the old way of doing things is done. Currently, the world order rotates around the axial skewer of Trump’s ego in a way that is toxic, entrenched and unsustainable, global leaders now admit. The situation is so extreme that Trump, without blinking, recently sent a letter to Norway’s prime minister plainly stating what would be humiliating for anyone else: his threats to invade Greenland are petty and self-interested. An American war might come to Europe in no small part because Trump appears to think that the Norwegian government personally refused to give him the Nobel Peace Prize. (The prize is bestowed by an independent, Parliament-appointed commission, but it might not occur to Trump that independent parliaments, boards, institutions actually exist beyond the control of a head of state.) Rather than court Trump, the rest of the world has relented. The United States has changed and the global order is reforming itself accordingly. 

Art by Janet Hill from Current Affairs Magazine Vol. 9, Issue 1

For those of us in the United States, we would be wise to take their cue—especially given that we have a power Canada, China, Latin America and Europe do not. These mega-economies can only shift away from the United States, perhaps punish it with policy, but save for covert online influence campaigns, they cannot alter it from the inside. Not the way we can. Those of us living here have the power to alter what is and is not settled fact in our country. Yes, the United States has changed, but in a million ways, we have the power to influence the degree of that change. From voting to protesting to withholding work, we get to affect exactly how much of Trumpism sticks around. What we can no longer do is pretend things will easily and naturally return to the way they were before. We, too, must build anew.

❧ In Other News ❧

❧ MAMDAMI AND TRUMP ARE TEXTING. Eric Adams must be green with envy. It turns out that Zohran Mamdani and Trump have a texting relationship. What they’re talking about, we don’t know, but apparently they are talking around twice a week after exchanging digits last November, and are frank about their areas of disagreement. 

Trump told the New York Times that earlier this month Mamdani reached out to criticize the capture of Nicolás Maduro—a phone call that for some reason shocked him. When asked by the Times if he thought the pair still got along, Trump lamented, “Well, I did, but he hit me sooner than I thought. I thought it would take him at least a month.”

Current Affairs has released its first music video!

Current Affairs is very proud to present “It Isn’t Nice (Abolish ICE),” performed by extraordinary New Orleans singer Paris Flowerz, and adapted from folk-blues singer Malvina Reynolds. The song was originally written about the Civil Rights movement and the importance of nonviolent direct action, even when such action is disruptive, possibly against local ordinances, and “not nice.” In an uncanny instance of history repeating itself, the song contains the lines:

When we deal with men of ice

You can't deal in ways so nice

Well, hell, Current Affairs editor-in-chief Nathan Robinson thought, there couldn’t be anything more relevant than advice on how to deal with “men of ice” using confrontational civil disobedience! 

We would love it if you gave the video a watch on Youtube, or listen on Soundcloud. Paris is a busker, so if you enjoy her performance, please consider giving her a tip. She’s $parisflowerz504 on CashApp. You can also follow her on Instagram @parisflowerz.

❧ STARLINK CUTS INTERNET DURING UGANDAN ELECTIONS. At the order of President Yoweri Museveni, Starlink ceased internet service in Uganda two weeks ahead of its presidential election. The 81 year old Museveni, who was running for a seventh consecutive term, has become “increasingly authoritarian,” according to NPR. Starlink’s suspension was part of a broader blackout. All communication was shut down except for a few essential services, and the military was deployed. Museveni was declared the winner in a hotly disputed landslide, while his opponent Bobi Wine is now hiding after the military raided his home and Museveni’s son threatened to kill him.

CURRENT-EST AFFAIRS

What’s new in the magazine this week?

Why American Students Don’t Protest The Iranian Government

Right now, in Iran, there is a mass civilian uprising against the country’s unpopular Islamic Republic government. The government has responded brutally, massacring thousands of its own citizens in an attempt to reassert control. What’s happening is horrific, yet for every death, the right has seen not only tragedy, but an opportunity to criticize the American pro-Palestine left. It’s morally inconsistent, they say, for the left not to stage walk-outs and sit-ins for Iran just as they did for the genocide in Gaza. Could the reason be that Iran is not a Jewish-run state, and that the left is antisemitic? Nope. The real answer requires ten seconds of critical thinking: the United States is not funding the violence in Iran, and despite the left’s protests, it is continuing to fund the genocide in Gaza. “We should always be clear that when governments are shooting dissenters in the street merely for dissenting, we side with the victims rather than the perpetrators,” Nathan Robinson writes. “But we, like the Iranians, should focus first on the crimes our own government is committing.” What is that phrase they like to say? Oh yes, America first. Read Nathan’s piece.

❧ In More News ❧

❧ NEW GAZA PEACE BOARD IS WORSE THAN ANTICIPATED. While Carney’s new world takes shape, Trump appears to be organizing a competing faction, starting in Gaza, where the United States always does its worst. On Jan. 15, his administration announced the establishment of a  Board of Peace, headed by Trump, to govern Gaza. Of course, Jared Kushner is on it, and it's first appointed members are pro-Israel champions s like Marco Rubio, Steve Witkoff, and Tony Blair. However, Trump seems to have bigger ambitions for the board, angling for it to become a replacement to, or rival of, the United Nations, stating, “You know, with all the wars I settled, the United Nations never helped me on one war.” Permanent membership on the board will cost countries $1 billion, as if global security is the same as a ticket to a Mar-a-Lago dinner. It’s not exactly clear what the money will go toward, since one U.S. official told CBS News that “virtually every dollar” would be spent on the board’s mandate, while fundraising to actually rebuild Gaza will be a separate effort. There are no reports yet on whether clearing the rubble to build a luxury, beach-front resort is part of that plan.

Art by Janet Hill from Current Affairs Magazine Vol. 9, Issue 1

❧ ERIC ADAMS’ FIRST ACT AS A CIVILIAN IS A CRYPTO SCAM. After departing New York City’s mayoral office, Eric Adams announced a new venture: $NYC, a cryptocoin that he said could tackle antisemitism and “anti-Americanism.” Don’t ask us how that was supposed to work. We don’t have a damn clue, but we aren’t surprised by what happened next. Quickly after its launch, an account associated with the founding of $NYC pulled $2.5 million out of the currency, tanking its value and causing people to lose tens of thousands of dollars. In cryptocurrency, this is a common scam known as a rug pull. Adams’ defense? It’s not a rug pull! It only looks like one!

Art by John Biggs from Current Affairs Magazine Vol. 9, Issue 1

❧ HAPPY MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. DAY. HERE’S A SHOE THE SAME COLOR AS THE MOTEL WHERE HE WAS ASSASSINATED. Today in tone-deaf, Nike has decided to commemorate MLK Day by releasing a shoe the same color as the motel where the Civil Rights leader was murdered. The new knicks are a special edition of the LeBron XXIII basketball shoe, and Lebron James himself debuted them while playing a game in Memphis …. the city where King was shot. Out of everything there is to celebrate about Martin Luther King Jr., his assassination is an odd choice, particularly for a company that has a history of using slave labor.

Nike's "Honor the King" shoe. Photo via @insanesneaker.

ANIMAL FACT OF THE WEEK

Silverback gorilla TWINS have been born in the Democratic Republic of Congo!

Good things come in pairs, and these silver back gorilla twins in the DRC’s Virunga Park are certainly a good thing. First spotted on January 3, twins are rare among this endangered species. “Their arrival is another milestone in one of the greatest conservation success stories of the past century,” The Guardian writes. Don’t worry, we found videos of the babies for you.

Photo via The Guardian, courtesy of Virunga National Park

Writing and research by Emily Carmichael. Editing and additional material by Emily Topping and Nathan J. Robinson. Header graphic by Cali Traina Blume. This news briefing is a product of Current Affairs Magazine. Subscribe to our gorgeous and informative print edition here, and our delightful podcast here.

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