Below are the top stories that trended among FP readers in the last week. This Friday, Trump and Putin will meet face-to-face. FP’s daily coverage of Russia’s war in Ukraine details the current state-of-play.

SUBSCRIBE TODAY

Smoke rises from a building allegedly belonging to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in Iran on June 23.

The Next Israel-Iran War Is Coming Both countries’ strategic calculus suggests it will be even more violent.

A 10 pound note is seen alongside euro notes and US dollar bills on October 13, 2017 in Bath, England.

The Mother of All Currency Crises Is on the Horizon Think the 1990s Asian economic crisis—just on a far larger scale.

Elon Musk looks on at a cabinet meeting in the White House in Washington on April 30.

Elon Musk Was Donald Trump’s Useful Idiot It’s looking increasingly likely that the world’s richest man got played.

The Latyan Dam, which provides water to Tehran, exhibits low water levels, seen near Tehran, Iran, on May 8.

Iran’s Taps Are Nearly Empty After five straight years of drought, the country is running dry.

Scaffolding is seen on the U.S. Department of State headquarters on July 11.

Trump’s State Department Reforms Are Necessary These changes are a first step toward reorienting the institution for today’s geopolitical challenges

Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a flag-raising ceremony for the <em>Knyaz Pozharsky</em>, a strategic nuclear-powered submarine, in Severodvinsk, Russia, on July 24.

Russia’s Submarine Plans Are Bad News for the West Moscow can challenge foreign navies under the waves.

Why Everyone in Washington Is a ‘Realist’ Now What’s emerging is not yet a new consensus. But neither is it as incoherent as current rhetoric would have you believe.