America
Biden is losing Nato
The forming of the Australia-UK-US (Aukus) military alliance in the Pacific shows how everything Trump can say, Biden can do.…
Aukus is a disaster for the EU
It is hard to overstate the importance of the so-called Aukus alliance between the US, the UK and Australia —…
Crime and punishment
How do we have difficult conversations? Especially in an age of polarisation, where everything is immediately politicised? But also where…
Macron’s ambitions have been torpedoed by Aukus
Today France is outraged. First, explicitly because Australia has broken a large contract to have a French company design their…
America’s Covid rules are for serfs, not celebrities
Amid the ridiculous outfits at the Met Gala last night, between the faux-socialist in her absurd ‘Tax the Rich’ dress…
Full circle
How the left thought they were right to fight the war on terror
Defund the world’s policeman?
It gets lost in the many creative purposes successive American administrations invented to justify remaining in Afghanistan, but the primary…
The West’s Islamist capitulation
On Monday, Tony Blair addressed a military think tank in London and stated that the West should continue to intervene…
Portrait of the week
Home Britain brought its last troops home from Afghanistan, having flown out more than 15,000 people since 14 August; but…
‘Britain is not a superpower’
The Defence Secretary on Afghanistan and the questions facing the West
The Spectator’s Notes
From time to time, people get worried and ask one another: ‘Is the world falling apart?’ I imagine this is…
A farewell to arms
It was quite the handover at Kabul airport this week. The last American troops to exit Afghanistan reportedly left facing…
How China drove a wedge between America and Israel
Two weeks ago, CIA director William Burns – who has rather a lot on his plate just now – had…
The descent of Afghanistan
The bomb attacks at Kabul airport were what US and allied commanders overseeing the mass evacuation had most feared. In…
Western deterrence now looks hollow
The efforts of a 20 year war took only a few weeks to overturn: the Taliban has completed its takeover…
A new world order will emerge from America’s humiliation
When America decided to save Afghanistan from the tyranny of the Taliban, it acted on two major beliefs. The first…
Letter from America
There are many in Donald Trump’s inner circle who have tried to read his mind these past four years, together…
American nightmare
Why would anyone move to the US?
Compound failure
What we got wrong in Afghanistan
Wash-up
‘They asked me if I wanted to wash up before we even went in to dinner,’ my husband recalled with…
What was the point of the war in Afghanistan?
On 7 October 2001 President George W. Bush launched Operation Enduring Freedom – the invasion of Afghanistan. The operation sought…
Is it too cruel to throw Lynch into the jaws of US justice?
Be glad you’re not in Dr Mike Lynch’s shoes. A London judge has ruled that the founder of the Cambridge-based…
The EU is failing to stand up for eastern Europe
Will the EU stand up for eastern Europe? This question is now being asked by Ukraine following the announcement of…
Why Joe Biden’s Russia-bashing is a tactical mistake
You might not think that Geoff Norcott, the self-proclaimed conservative comedian, has something to contribute to western relations with Russia,…
Don’t count on America’s immigration figures
Having indulged an unhealthy interest in human migration for decades, I’ve been intrigued by how the number of illegal immigrants…
