Remember Andropov: How the attempt to kill NatCon paves the way for more censorship
Let me introduce younger readers to Yuri Andropov, leader of the Soviet Union from 1982 to 1984, and Soviet ambassador to Hungary from 1954 to 1957, during which…
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Opinion
Latest reporting and analysis on opinion.
The European institutions proclaim their commitment to the rule of law. The reality is more akin to the rule of flaws. Five more years of this could sound the death knell of the European project
The rule of law has featured high on the EU’s agenda during the current term.
The West cannot afford defeat in Ukraine: Kyiv is fighting an imperialist Russian ideology that must be seen to have lost for Europe to return to peace
Four years before he became president in 1981, Ronald Reagan announced his Cold War policy: “We win, they lose.
Whatever the American Left may want, Biden will continue his support for Israel. For him, it is an electoral necessity
Iran’s brazen attack on Israel was thwarted, but it remains unclear if Israel will retaliate.
Is Germany becoming a dependency of China? Europe’s most powerful nation is ever more reliant on Beijing
With a GDP of over $4 trillion, Germany boasts one of the biggest economies globally. It is, without question, the most powerful country in Europe.
The Middle East is not yet at the brink of all out war – but Iran’s missile attack on Israel has certainly made it closer
Luckily for the world, most policy decisions are not made on X.
Russia has no future and China will seize this opportunity: It may not look like it now, but the two powers are destined for future conflict
The current policy of Russian President Vladimir Putin seems to be a demonstration of strength, but in reality, it is a symptom of Russian weakness.
Where do you fit in? Today’s four schools of thought on strategic policy: Post-Modern Globalists, the Multipolarity School, the Eurasianist School, and the Classical Primacy School
The Western conversation on statecraft and defence in our times appears to have reached new peaks of strife, cacophony and sheer multiplicity and divergence of views…
Peace in Ukraine, the destruction of Hamas, standing up to China: Europe should rejoice at the prospect of the re-election of Donald Trump – it will soon be emulating his policies
There continues to be a great deal of apprehension in the conventional media of the Western European countries about the likely return of President Trump.
Despite its fading grandeur, Britain’s Foreign Office has forgotten its former self-confidence. Foreign Secretary David Cameron needs to rediscover it fast to avoid humiliation
Three British diplomatic heavy-weights, recently retired, have just released a report calling on the Foreign Office to be “re-branded”.
For Europe to be a world player, it needs to be a military power. The continent’s leaders may be waking up to this
The last two years of European involvement in the Ukraine war have revealed an uncomfortable truth: The EU may be a global economic and political power, but its…
The Spanish paradox: Its economy may be recovering, but its people are not feeling it. The migrant crisis might be part of the answer
In a recent piece for Euronews. Piero Cingari waxed lyrical about Spain's economy.
The tractor referendums: The EU has a choice – more democracy, or more farmer protests?
When a European leader calls a national referendum he is confident he will win, you should picture the old Road Runner villain Wile E Coyote holding a lit stick…
The changing face of Cyprus: Will the island state soon be the first European country with a non-European majority?
If demographic replacement is undisputedly taking place somewhere in the EU, that place is Cyprus.
Going back to basics at 75: NATO must defend itself robustly if attacked, nothing more, nothing less
That NATO has reached its 75th anniversary this week should be a cause for genuine celebration across the West and by all free and open societies around the world.
If Russia succeeds in its aggression against Ukraine, the moral implosion of the West will result. Trump is beginning to get this
The Western alliance responded vigorously to the Russian invasion of Ukraine and thoroughly debunked the Sino-Russian background chorus of the time that the Western…
Trump’s Bibles: The ridicule that the Republican candidate has received for hawking the Holy Book illustrates how his liberal opponents don’t understand America
Donald Trump is selling Bibles (“It’s my favourite book”), $59.
Qin dynasty China, a presidential assassination and post-Covid Sweden: They all have lessons on administrative reform for the European Union
To dispel the concerns of any reader that this will turn out to be a lengthy piece on the subject of bureaucracy, I begin with an assassination.
Excluding election-winning populists merely acts as rocket fuel for their poll ratings: This is what Portugal’s Luis Montenegro is about to learn
Portuguese Prime Minister-designate Luis Montenegro faced a hard decision after narrowly winning last month’s elections.
France creates ‘national mobile force’ as radicalised students threaten schools
France's schools now face such security dangers from radicalised students that education minister Nicole Belloubet has announced the deployment of a "national mobile…
Will the next Pope be Hungarian? There are certainly good reasons to think he will be European
Pope Francis is 87.
Is Austria becoming a country of beer addicted communists? The rise of two fringe parties might suggest so – but disillusionment with the mainstream Left is a better explanation
It is often forgotten, but when it comes to populist politics, the small country of Austria is a bellwether.
Many are demanding a massive rearming of Germany – but is it a good idea?
Bashing Berlin on defence has become a very popular sport among experts and officials across NATO.
The hammer and sickle returns: Far-Left parties are on the rise across Europe – if the trend continues, the Continent could become ungovernable
Communism was supposed to be dead after the Soviet Union’s collapse.
Britain’s Conservatives are in trouble – their only chance now is to sack Rishi Sunak and return to Thatcherite values. If they don’t, the Party is doomed
The Conservative government in the United Kingdom shows every likelihood of being decisively defeated in the next election, later this year.
Can the EU’s strategic ambitions survive its looming fiscal cliff? Without something giving, Europe won’t be able to fund and arm Ukraine
The leaders of Poland, Germany and France met earlier this month in an attempt to revive the Weimar Triangle, an attempt to coordinate defence policies that previously…
Germany used to be Europe’s economic powerhouse – it is fast becoming today’s sick man of Europe
In 2010, the now German minister of the economy Robert Habeck wrote, in his book published that year, that “patriotism, love of country, that makes me want to…
Viktor Orbán or Ursula von der Leyen? That is the choice facing Giorgia Meloni. Which way she goes could shape the future direction of Europe for a generation
Before she came to power, many thought that Giorgia Meloni would be an Italian Viktor Orban. Two years later, it is obvious that she is not.
Who is truly far Right? When news agencies display bias, the whole national conversation can turn sour
Until this month, most people were unaware of what a "kill notice" was when it came to news agencies, but after the debacle of the Princess of Wales’s Mothering…
Ireland’s new Taoiseach with no consequence: The arrival of Simon Harris will make no difference to the tsunami about to hit the Republic’s old parties
Whenever I write about Ireland, I recall a poll run in Japan some years ago which showed most Japanese did not know there was a difference between Ireland and Iceland.