World
Biden’s big empathy fail
Empathy won Joe Biden the White House, we were told. Indeed, as former Republican speechwriter Peter Wehner informed us, ‘In the…
We need to find the muscle memory of Western greatness
Like millions around the world, I have spent recent days watching – sometimes forcing myself to watch – these images…
Here comes the Afghan refugee crisis
The rapid takeover of Afghanistan by the Taliban has potentially dire consequences for Afghan women and children. The Islamist group…
Biden’s mad-lib bungle
The terrorist attack at Kabul airport on Thursday was so horrific as to summon the word ‘unprecedented’. But it was…
The descent of Afghanistan
The bomb attacks at Kabul airport were what US and allied commanders overseeing the mass evacuation had most feared. In…
The problem with PC policing
Ah, the last days of summer. Long evenings, sunny weekends, and crusty Extinction Rebellion hippies blocking arterial traffic lanes to…
Would Japan defend Taiwan from a Chinese attack?
In a parliamentary debate in early June about Covid, Japan’s prime minister Yoshihide Suga said that Australia, New Zealand and…
How will Europe respond to a wave of Afghan refugees?
On Tuesday, Franek Sterczewski made a break for the border. Wearing a long trench coat and carrying a blue plastic…
The Supreme Court’s shameful statement on Hong Kong
In a statement which will doubtless surprise the scores of lawyers, democratic politicians and human rights activists who are currently…
The cost of the terrible tragedy at Kabul airport
America’s frantic, confused exit from Afghanistan was a humiliating shambles even before today’s terrorist attack. Now, it is something much worse. It…
Seven times Joe Biden claimed ‘America is back’
It’s been a sobering two weeks for fans of America’s septuagenarian president. Even before he took office, Joe Biden was…
Exclusive: ‘The Taliban smelled weakness’, says Mike Pompeo
President Biden blames Donald Trump and his former secretary of state Mike Pompeo for the debacle of the Afghanistan withdrawal.…
America after Afghanistan
The 20th anniversary of 9/11 will come in a matter of days. It will be marked by the victory of…
Why is the UN’s Human Rights Council ignoring the Taliban’s atrocities?
The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) held its 31st special session this week to address the ‘serious human rights…
What will happen to those left in Kabul?
The Afghan evacuation is feared to be entering its final hours, and with it a new desperation is building among…
Vaccine efficacy and the case for living with the virus
How fast does Covid vaccine protection wear off? New data from the Zoe Covid Study, published today, tries to quantify…
President Ice Cream’s Afghan meltdown
You have to hand it to the Taliban (or, if you are Joe Biden, the ‘Tally-bahn’): they are both a…
Kamala Havana?
It was supposed to be a welcome break from serving as the Biden administration’s stooge. Instead of being the mascot…
The long march to disaster
In the weeks after the 9/11 attacks, Americans came together in a spirit of grief, resolve and shared national pride.…
Bill Kristol and the political defector grift
Did you hear? Bill Kristol is turning his back on the Republican party! Yes, again. On Tuesday morning, the erstwhile Weekly Standard founder…
Fortress Europe is dreading the Afghan migrant crisis
Fortress Europe is pulling up the drawbridge. The takeover of Afghanistan by the Taliban is likely to being about a…
Iran is an immediate winner of the Taliban takeover
A staple of observing politics is watching rhetoric curdle into reality. Operation Enduring Freedom, thought up and slapped together in…
Boris Johnson's Macron-esque pettiness
How we all hollered with outrage in May when Emmanuel Macron closed France’s borders to people arriving from Britain on…
Central Asia’s geography after America’s defeat
However much it is denied, we still live in an imperial age, at least metaphorically. Just as the withdrawal from…
Is Afghanistan to blame for Biden’s sinking popularity — or is COVID?
‘How many more generations of America’s daughters and sons would you have me send to fight Afghanistan’s civil war when…
