Russia
Mis-en-Mars
You have to hand it to the Russians. They beat us into space, beat us to sexual equality, and a…
Surviving the Soviets
Ismene Brown talks to the Russian super-couple Maya Plisetskaya and Rodion Shchedrin about ballet, opera and the KGB
Bear market
The West will have to drop sanctions on Russia – or face another global economic crash
Letter from Donetsk
For what is technically peacetime, there’s a lot of shelling going on round here. Donetsk airport is still held by…
Europe vs liberty
Václav Klaus, the former Czech president, on David Cameron, the EU, Russia — and the end of free speech
Barometer
Not in their name The BBC decided to start calling the Islamic terror group Isis by the acronym IS instead.…
More war for oil
You can’t understand any of the world’s crises without understanding petropolitics
Gaudy notebook
As the BA flight from Warsaw landed at Heathrow, I felt a little tremor of anxiety, though it wasn’t anything…
High life
Can somebody tell me when America last got it right? Uncle Sam’s track record in selecting leaders in faraway places…
World disorder
The old cliché that ‘nothing happens in August’ has again been brutally disproved. From the centenary of the outbreak of…
My summer advice for graduate job-seekers: try the City last, and steer well clear of PR
August is the season for conversation about career choices. Every holiday party seems to include new graduates or next year’s…
Sanctions rarely work, but they might make oligarchs whisper in Putin’s ear
‘Sanctions,’ said Kofi Annan, ‘are a necessary middle ground between war and words.’ Neither the EU nor the US will…
Portrait of the week
Home David Cameron, the Prime Minister, told Parliament that President Vladimir Putin of Russia should end his country’s support for…
What to do about Putin
Sanctions won’t help. One thing might
Empire of deceit
Putin’s answer to the destruction of Flight MH17 has been more propaganda. In Russia, at least, it seems to be working
Diary
My trips to meet Russians in Russia these days are a little less controversial than my encounter with them in…
Diary
I feel an intense antipathy for Vladimir Putin. No one on the international scene has aroused in me such dislike…
Will there be war in Ukraine?
Further Russian military intervention would be a disaster. But Putin might have to do it anyway
Portrait of the week
Home The British economy grew by 0.8 per cent in the first quarter of 2014, disappointing hotheads who’d expected 1 per cent. It…
Patriot games
Possibly because his oratory is no match for his much-displayed pectoral muscles, the speeches of Vladimir Putin are seldom reported…
Can this man save Ukraine?
A rare interview with billionaire Ukrainian power broker Dmitry Firtash
Portrait of the week
Home David Cameron, the Prime Minister, said that inheritance tax ‘shouldn’t be paid by people who’ve worked hard and saved…
How I learned to stop worrying and love the Bomb
Just as every child now thinks he’s going to die of global warming, so those of us who grew up…
Putin’s poison pill
Losing Crimea will be the making of Ukraine. And gaining it might well destroy the Russian president
Putin’s winning hand
Russia is making the West look posturing, weak and divided
