World
Merz is feeling the pressure of Germany’s state elections
Amid growing uncertainty caused by the US-Israel offensive against Iran and surging gas prices, Germany had its first major election…
Does Ed Davey even know what the Iran war is about?
In the years when the Greens cared more about hedgehogs than Hamas, those opposed to military action made the Lib…
Why the Kurds won’t move on Iran
The war in Iran has entered its second week. Despite constant American and Israeli bombardment and heavy losses on the…
Why the AfD has fallen out of love with Trump
When the Alternative for Germany (AfD) condemned America’s strikes against the Iranian regime last week, the reaction in Washington must…
Down with the Old Firm
Yesterday afternoon, Rangers and Celtic played out a dismal 0-0 draw (‘eye-bleeding’, was journalist Tom English’s verdict) in the Scottish Cup…
The awkward truth about Charles’s Commonwealth message
Under normal circumstances, King Charles’s message to the Commonwealth would be a carefully crafted and anodyne series of platitudes, designed…
Will Kurdish insurgents help America in Iran?
The US and Israel rapidly established air superiority over Iran in the first days of the war now under way…
Labour MPs prepare for trigger ballots
It is a difficult time to be a Labour MP. With the Greens on the left and Reform on the…
Why is it so difficult to fire bad civil servants?
I have a nice memory of walking into the then Chancellor’s private office at 1 a.m. and everyone just being…
What will Ed Miliband do when the lights go out?
How many times has Ed Miliband told us that his renewable energy policies were helping to free us from ‘fossil…
Americans are erasing European culture
Did Mariah Carey mime or not when she headlined the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics in Milan? That was…
What Timothée Chalamet gets wrong about opera and ballet
In February, Timothée Chalamet said to his fellow actor Matthew McConaughey, as part of a CNN and Variety town hall:…
What is the point of an ‘anti-Muslim hostility tsar’?
Derrida et al were right. The written English language (langue) can be vague and elliptical and the intended meaning not always…
Will the war in Iran really weaken China?
Analogies in international politics are tricky and easily abused, yet they remain irresistible because they can illuminate patterns that are…
Iran’s Supreme Leader is just as bloodthirsty as his father
The announcement of Mojtaba Khamenei as the next supreme leader of Iran represents not only continuity in the Islamic Republic’s…
The days are numbered for Iran’s new Supreme Leader
As the war continues, the Iranian regime has pressed ahead with appointing its new Supreme Leader. Mojtaba Khamenei, the son…
What would Adam Smith make of the AI revolution?
Today marks the 250th anniversary of the publication of The Wealth of Nations: Adam Smith’s seminal text in the history…
Trump is heading for a hard reckoning over Iran
The social media video with which the White House has promoted its attack on Iran is, even by the standards…
Will Gerry Adams let truth prevail?
Picture Gerry Adams in a dimly lit courtroom, one hand raised in statesmanlike denial, the other twitching like Dr. Strangelove’s…
Who cares if Britain’s Eurovision entry has German lyrics?
What with the prospect of further resets with the European Union, and with British culture seemingly in a constant battle…
MAHA, stay in your lane
MAHA is not a foreign policy doctrine, nor should it become one. Nevertheless this week the movement experienced a split…
The graduate benefit is not what it was
Politicians are keen to fix what is seen as a mounting political problem with student loans. An increasing number of…
Chris Philp: ‘The government showed no foresight whatsoever’
In the last few days, Keir Starmer has agreed to let the US military use UK bases to conduct specific…
The Premier League is not boring
In the Premier League this season, the number of open-play goals, shots and passes are all the lowest in years.…
Russian oil is back
Donald Trump on Thursday allowed India to import more Russian oil. India recently did a deal with the US that…
