Russia
Putin’s winning in Syria – but making a powerful new enemy
In Syria, the Russian leader is on the verge of his biggest – and riskiest – coup yet
The next immigration crisis
There has been an influx of 2.5 million Syrian refugees, and almost as many again are expected. At this rate, Turkey’s migrant problem is set to become Europe’s
‘Russia’s Mississippi’ — or China’s — just keeps rolling along
In 2014, Beijing and Moscow signed a US$400 billion deal to deliver Russian gas to Chinese consumers. Construction of the…
Conductor and orchestra played as if in love: Royal Opera’s Eugene Onegin reviewed
It’s scene five of Kasper Holten’s production of Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin and Michael Fabiano’s Lensky is alone with a snow-covered…
War & Peace is actually just an upmarket Downton Abbey
Gosh what a breath of fresh air was Andrew Davies’s War & Peace adaptation (BBC1, Sundays) after all the stale…
Why did a Russian ballet dancer throw acid in his boss’s face?
The 16th June 1961 and 17th January 2013 are two indelible dates in the annals of Russian ballet. Two events…
Silent strongman Sergey Shoigu is the real force behind Russia’s military aggression
Sergey Shoigu is the real force behind Putin’s military aggression
It is time to join the fight against IS in Syria
The Islamic State is as monstrous an enemy as we have seen in recent history. It crucifies and decapitates its…
How to defeat Isis, by a retired British commander
Military action against Isis needs a coherent strategy, says a former senior commander in the British army
Obama's weakness has helped Putin – and Isis
The principal strategic objective in the war on terror has been a failure. Ever since 9/11, the aim has been…
Portrait of the week
Home David Cameron, the Prime Minister, outlined four changes he sought in Britain’s membership of the EU. He wanted to…
It’s not just the Russians – there is no morality in top-level sport
Why do transgendered people need separate toilets? I thought, according to the prevalent orthodoxy, that the new gender they had…
Islamic State is making its threats a reality
Isis could be on the brink of creating a terrifying new world order
Seb Coe is a fine man... who deserves to feel uncomfortable
So Smiley was right all along: the bloody Russians were the baddest of the bad. The Pound report on the…
Theatre and transgression in Europe’s last dictatorship
Juan Holzmann goes underground in Minsk with the Belarus Free Theatre
Portrait of the week
Home Two groups were launched, one in favour of remaining in the European Union and the other in favour of…
Portrait of the week
Home David Cameron, the Prime Minister, told the Conservative party conference in Manchester: ‘We need a national crusade to get…
How Putin outwitted the West
His cynical statecraft in Syria has run rings around Britain and America
Why I’ve finally given up on the left
I cannot be part of a movement run by half-educated fanatics
Where the wild things are: in the woods and (worse) in the plumbing, according to the latest best children’s books
In the Californian town of San Bernadino, children are going missing; smiling faces grace a gallery of milk cartons. One…
The road to Lolita: why Nabokov’s literary talent finally blossomed in America
Speak, Memory, Vladimir Nabokov’s nostalgic memoir, reflects on his life from the age of three to 41, taking us from…
Can Putin ban homosexuality and endorse polygamy? Yes he can
The Kremlin is tying itself in ideological knots as it tries to make new friends in the Muslim world
The madness of the Beijing Winter Olympics
Jumping the shark isn’t yet an Olympic sport, but if it were the International Olympic Committee would be a shoo-in…
Welcome to the world of Big Byz
The title of Victor Pelevin’s 2011 novel stands for ‘Special Newsreel/Universal Feature Film’. This product is made by the narrator,…
If Putin comes, the Poles are waiting - a report from Nato's new frontline
Nato’s beefed-up military exercises are impressive – and ominous
