Russia’s war on Ukraine: the lessons so far
The sheer complexity – and horror – of Russia’s war on Ukraine makes it difficult to distil the essential points. To take…
Ukraine isn’t Boris’s ‘Falklands moment’
What should we make of Boris’s response to war in Ukraine? The verdict from one Tory MP is already in: ‘History…
The problem with International Women’s Day
Am I the only one wondering how long it’ll be before the organisers of International Women’s Day are forced to…
How close is Russia to collapse?
Russia is now as closed off to the world as the Soviet Union was before Mikhail Gorbachev made his first tentative steps…
Now JK Rowling takes on the critics
Away from the scenes in eastern Europe, a very different terf war was playing out on Twitter yesterday between JK…
Where’s the outrage over Trudeau’s trip to Britain?
As Justin Trudeau waltzed through the UK, visiting Boris Johnson and the Queen, did anyone spare a thought for Canadians…
Putin’s Russian history is a fantasy
As the first cracks appear in the Kremlin leadership, it it is becoming clear that this is Putin’s war against Ukraine.…
Why is St Paul’s Cathedral commemorating a Benin slave trader?
The Church of England is rightly sensitive to the evils of slavery and racism. It has announced energetic measures to…
Green power or confusing failure?
I am at a loss to understand the ‘Green Movement’. I fully understand their concern about the use of fossil…
Capitulation complete for Ukraine-Russia conflict
It cannot be any clearer: 141 countries have condemned Russia for its invasion of Ukraine as illegitimate in a vote…
What Erdogan is thinking about Ukraine
Turkey’s twentieth-century experience was very different from that of most European countries. During World War One, the late Ottoman Empire…
Why is India holding back?
India, like Australia, America, and Japan, is a full member of the ‘Quad’ – the new political group formed to…
A no-fly zone is an act of war
Fuelled by repeated appeals from President Zelensky, western support for a no-fly zone in Ukraine is growing. The number of Americans in…
Could a Kremlin assassin get to Putin?
Could an assassin kill Putin? Just as the second world war would not have happened without the demonic will and…
Boris Johnson is operating in a new political reality
Boris Johnson is attempting to carve out a role for himself as the figure who can lead the West in…
Remember the Russians who will really suffer from sanctions
When I was in Russia in the very early 1990s, there was a generic figure who seemed to stand at…
How Britain can speed up sanctions against the oligarchs
In contrast to its leadership in relation to economic sanctions against the Russian state, the UK has been much too…
The Central Bank Digital Currency is on the horizon
When Covid spread its shady particles around the globe, the borders of nations were profoundly meaningful as travel restrictions were…
The danger of hubris
As the apocryphal tale of King Cnut goes, he commanded the sea: ‘You are subject to me, as the land…
Meet the 72-year-old British colonel taking on the Russians in Ukraine
Some citizens of Nato countries are in Ukraine to fight. They are members of the new International Brigade the Ukrainians…
The game of marriage chicken
China is grappling with the problem of what to do with what they call ‘leftover’ women – unmarried women, often…
Why did Boris prioritise Lebedev’s peerage during the pandemic?
Like me, you probably remember the third week of March 2020 as though it were yesterday. Covid-19 was on these shores…
‘Help us, before it’s too late’
Western Ukraine Outside a military recruiting centre in Lviv, Egor Grushin, one of Ukraine’s most famous classical pianists, was waiting…
Hungary’s ‘patriotic fight’ with the EU: an interview with justice minister Judit Varga
Budapest is racked with tension. As Russia’s invasion of Ukraine sends a stream of refugees to Hungary’s eastern border, Viktor…
A cultural boycott of Russia plays into Putin’s hands
Has the cultural boycott of Russia gone too far? Events at an Italian university this week, where writer Paolo Nori…
