America
What Five Eyes does – and doesn’t – see
In the famous ‘Rainbow Portrait’ of Elizabeth I her gown is embroidered with eyes and ears, a reference to her…
The MAGA movement is wrong on Ukraine
How can the right be so wrong? Or at least portions of the right – especially the American right –…
Letters: American support to Europe has come at a cost
Rules Britannia Sir: Your rules for national survival in the realist world which we are now entering (‘Get real’, 22…
Brace for an outbreak of Trumpist investor activism
If the new Trump era has a theme, it’s one of quixotic disruption with random consequences. In that spirit, stand…
It’s time to scrap the asylum system
Whatever you think of the blizzard of executive orders howling from the White House, at least the new President doesn’t…
Why don’t Yale students want to drink?
They say it is good to learn new skills as you get older. Well here goes. I am about to…
Let Trump buy the Chagos Islands
Forgive me for returning in this column to Diego Garcia. The issue is too important to shrug aside: important not…
Right young things: meet the Trumpian twentysomethings taking over Washington
Washington, D.C. ‘What made you open a restaurant?’ I ask Bart Hutchins, the owner of Butterworth’s, a French-style bistro turned…
Britain could learn from Trump’s approach to foreign policy
The Foreign Secretary describes his approach to diplomacy as ‘progressive realism’. One can legitimately ask what is progressive about a…
What economists don’t get about Trump’s tariffs
We already knew that most economists are quite bad at economic policy. Unfortunately, foreign policy appears not to be much…
America has seen sense on aid. When will we?
The new administration in Washington has somewhat startled its critics by issuing a blizzard of executive orders during its opening…
How to solve a problem like the Chagos Islands
Very soon – as soon as the mutual courtesies now being exchanged between the new American President and his British…
Peter Mandelson’s rocky path to Trumpworld
The muddle about who’s to be the next British ambassador in Washington has been only a small part of the…
Will Trump remember his allies?
I had thought that having to be inaugurated indoors would have cramped Donald Trump’s style. Not so. The rhetoric with…
The Trump resistance is dead
The special relationship is dead, long live the special relationship. On Friday, at a ‘Stars and Stripes & Union Jack…
Which were the most destructive fires in history?
Swing states Where would Canada and Greenland rank if they became US states? – Canada would be, by far, the…
Am I a MAGA icon?
‘Traitor!’ the woman yelled at me the instant I entered the beautifully decorated living room of a famous actress. It…
Empire of Trump: the President’s plan to make America greater
‘The mission of the United States is one of benevolent assimilation,’ said William McKinley, America’s 25th commander-in-chief, who happens to…
J. D. Vance is the future of MAGA
The vice-presidency of the United States has always been the butt of jokes. ‘I don’t plan to be buried until…
The architectural provocations of I.M. Pei
When first considering architects for the new Louvre in 1981, Emile Biasini, the project’s head, liked that I.M. Pei was…
The growing wealth gap between Britain and the US
New year predictions are always rash, but it feels as though one aspect of the story of 2025 can already…
Portrait of the year: Subpostmasters scandal, Rishi in the rain and Syrian rebels topple regime
January After an ITV drama, the government suddenly proposed to do something about the unjust prosecution of sub-postmasters. Junior doctors…
Elon Musk is wrong about the Roman Empire
I was in Washington D.C. during The Election, living halfway between the Capitol and White House. Concerned friends suggested I…
Why does James Baldwin matter so much now?
The rise of Queer Studies and Black Lives Matter has led to renewed interest in Baldwin – who was exasperated in life with being categorised by colour or as ‘gay’
