The West won the World Wars and the Cold War. We must win today too – but to do so Europe must rediscover its belief in democracy
It seems that every month the European project becomes more beleaguered.
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Opinion
Latest reporting and analysis on opinion.
NATO can survive the return of Trump – and still deter Putin. It will simply mean Europe paying for more of its own defence
Much has been made recently over the prospective return of Donald Trump and his transactional style of conducting foreign relations.
No more stupid wars: The West must not allow itself to be dragged further into the Russia-Ukraine war
It would stupid for the West to get further dragged into the Russian-Ukraine war.
Can the EU learn from Britain’s ‘extremism crackdown’? Not giving public money to Islamists is long overdue, but the new definitions could be used against conservatives
In an effort to “keep our citizens safe and our country secure”, Britain’s Conservative government has announced a new definition of extremism.
Is France turning into an Anthony Burgess dystopia? The dangers of going ‘Zulu’ and embracing the ‘Horns of the Buffalo’
France appears to be embracing the deadly Zulu “Horns of the Buffalo” tactic when it comes to the lifespans of its citizens.
Donald Tusk promised much for his first 100 days – he has achieved little other than administering revenge on Law and Justice
Friday 22 March will mark 100 days of Donald Tusk's government.
Who should next lead NATO? A Secretary General from Eastern Europe is long overdue and the only real option is Klaus Iohannis
For 75 years, NATO has defended the free nations of the Euro-Atlantic region and provided the shield behind which prosperity could flourish.
Britain’s Conservative Party is heading for a historic defeat – and it is gradually waking up to the fact that it will be the party’s own fault
“Don’t vote for Reform UK,” senior Conservatives say, “If you do, you will let the Labour Party in through the back door”.
There can be no peace in the Middle East until Hamas is eliminated. Israel is being held to different, higher, standards than any other state
It is disappointing to see the wave of synchronised credulity with which Europe has fallen in behind the tired and mistaken argument that Israel is obliged to…
The EPP is now talking tough on migration as they seek to head off a populist revolt at the European elections – with Ursula von der Leyen’s record, don’t believe them
Last week at the Bucharest European People's Party (EPP) Congress Ursula von der Leyen was crowned lead candidate for a second term as President of the European…
War in Ukraine has gone on too long and cost too many lives – only a second Trump presidency has the chance of bringing peace with honour for Kyiv
Despite widespread media reports to the contrary, the reelection of Donald Trump might be the most desirable outcome for Ukraine in the upcoming US presidential…
The essential unseriousness of Britain’s, indeed the whole of Europe’s, politicians is proven by the fact that they don’t take our defence seriously in these serious times
Never let it be said that modern UK governments are unaware of the world around them and their place in it.
Full-fledged American isolationism would be devastating – for its own interests, first and foremost
In his farewell address George Washington urged his compatriots and their descendants to restrict America’s involvement in the world and avoid entangling alliances.
Net zero is a threat to the West’s security: We are menaced by Russia and other hostile powers – Europe must now devote all its energies to rearming, not pursuing fantastical aspirations
Sir Gerald Howarth, a former British minister for International Security Strategy, has written a perceptive foreword to the new book The Music Stops, Net Zero and…
Is a commitment to climate orthodoxy a prerequisite to working for the European Central Bank? The Frankfurt institution has tied itself in knots over the true meaning of diversity
There are two key kinds of diversity in Western liberal democracies. One visible. and one invisible.
Une autre grande idée, monsieur le président? European history may be facing a hinge moment – and Macron’s proposal could just turn it in the West’s favour
Judging by the bellows of discontent from his allies, French President Macron blundered badly with his suggestion that NATO countries may need to deploy combat troops…
Two years into the conflict, have Putin and the Russian economy been the real winners of the war in Ukraine? Depressingly that’s what the numbers suggest
Since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 hundreds of thousands of lives have been lost, millions of people have been displaced, Western economies…
The populist revolt is about to up-end Portugal’s politics. If the traditional parties seek to exclude Chega, they will only turbo-charge the upstart
Portuguese elections rarely make news outside that country. Sunday’s parliamentary vote will be different if the polls prove correct.
Macron is no Napoleon and no Talleyrand: Floating his proposal of sending troops to Ukraine was a work of stunning political ineptness that only boosted Putin
Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord must have been the world’s greatest political survival artist.
Macron’s folly: Sending troops to Ukraine is a very bad idea, from the wrong person, at the wrong time
At a time when Ukraine desperately needs practical deliveries of weapons and ammunition to help sustain its defence against advancing Russian forces, president Macron…
Can Germany escape from Hobbiton? Berlin has had a long respite from the horrors of the twentieth century, but it must now be ready to rejoin the world
Despite Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s widely acclaimed Zeitenwende speech in the immediate aftermath of the Russian invasion, Germany remains stuck in its pre-war strategic…
Fighting back: Poland’s conservatives change their guard ahead of European and US elections
PiS leader Jarosław Kaczyński has demanded the resignation of his party’s top brass MEPs, in order to substitute them ahead of this year's European elections.
The peasants are revolting: This year’s farmer protests are a mere foretaste of what is to come if Brussels does not change tack
Europe’s recent spate of protests by farmers may appear to involve a coincidental concurrence of otherwise unrelated concerns. They weren’t.
If you want to understand what is happening in the United States, be sure not to read The Guardian or Sidney Blumenthal
It is with sadness and guilt bordering on shame that for the third consecutive week, my entire career as a contributor to this outlet, I must inflict upon readers…
An historic US security break with Europe is becoming increasingly likely – regardless of whether Donald Trump or Joe Biden is in the White House
We have been travelling in this direction for many years. First there was Obama’s pivot to the Pacific, an early reaction to China’s rise;
If Fidesz joins the ECR that would be good for Hungary – and good for Europe
The Hungarian Prime Minister has expressed a strong interest in having his party, Fidesz, join the European Conservatives and Reformers parliamentary group after…
A tale of two energy revolutions: How Germany got it astonishingly wrong and the United States got it astoundingly right. Now the whole of Europe needs to choose
Charles Dickens novel A Tale of Two Cities famously begins:
Don’t send Julian Assange to the United States. That would be a crime – destroying a few Picassos and Warhols is not
A Russian artist, who in the historic way of Russian artists manages to live in Paris, is threatening to destroy pictures by Picasso and Warhol if Julian Assange…
Robert F Kennedy Jr won’t be America’s next President – but he may decide who is
“Democracy,” wrote H.L. Mencken, “is the theory that the common people know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard.
Delusions on display: The emptiness of the West’s strategic thinking will be on full show at the 2024 Munich Security Conference
The Munich Security Conference (MSC), which opens this week, is the Davos of the defence and strategic policy world.