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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A Mexican National Guard officer stands guard on a pickup truck during a vehicle check heading to the United States at the San Ysidro Port of Entry crossing in Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico, on February 6, 2025. (Getty Images)