World
The case for liberal pessimism
Liberalism hasn’t had its sorrows to seek of late but its misfortunes show no sign of abating. The confluence of…
Al Qaeda and Iran’s dangerous partnership
What does the world’s foremost Shia power and the most notorious Sunni terror group have in common? Given that the…
Television isn’t gay enough, says New York Times
It’s headline news at the New York Times: television is getting less gay! America’s paper of record may be uninterested…
France's Covid response is a source of national shame
France is the only permanent member of the UN Security Council not to have developed a coronavirus vaccine, and it…
Is Joe Biden’s administration fit for the 2020s?
Joe Biden’s Cabinet nominees have been warmly received by the massed ranks of anti-Trumpists in Washington. But the warmth stateside…
Is the one shot jab a game changer?
The UK’s decision to lengthen the gap between first and second doses of the Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines has been…
What does Trump want now? Revenge — and a second term
The figure of the ex-president is one of the most endearingly republican features of American politics. He who was the…
Why Merlina, the Tower of London raven, was so remarkable
Merlin (or Merlina), the cleverest and most sociable of the Tower of London ravens is missing. It’s a bad omen…
Are we witnessing the birth of an African Islamic State?
On Monday, 13 soldiers were killedby the Islamic State in northeastern Nigeria. A week ago, just after midnight on Friday…
Donald Trump is impeached again – now what?
Today Donald Trump became the first president in United States history to be impeached twice. He was first impeached in…
Donald Trump and the limits of free speech
Is Donald Trump’s expulsion from Twitter an attack on free speech? A great many Republicans are saying so. You certainly…
@jack is the giant
Where is Jack? You know, Jack-the-Giant-Killer? The little fellow who caught the giant Cormaran in a deadfall and dispatched him…
America’s Yeltsin moment
The end of the Cold War was as great a shock to US politics as it was to the Soviet Union’s. The…
Tony Blair is deluding himself on a 'De Gaulle-style comeback'
Tony Blair has made a tentative return to the heart of British politics by offering Matt Hancock strategic advice on…
How will Trump leave office?
Send in the troops. The nation must restore order. The military stands ready. Aficionados of the New York Times may recall…
The Big Tech backfire
If your aim is to stop America descending into civil conflict, it’s hard to think of a less effective method…
The delicate balancing act of lockdown messaging
Matt Hancock spent Monday evening trying to explain a very delicate tension to the public. There’s the good news of…
Did Boris's bike ride breach lockdown rules?
Exercise is a dangerous game these days. As two women recently discovered, drive five miles for a walk at a beauty…
The trouble with alienating Middle America
You’ve got to admire the left. Granted, they own the internet, the media, the courts (apparently) and now the government,…
Praise be to our benevolent Big Tech Overlords
It is done. The Dark Lord has been vanquished. His threatening aura has been purged from Twitter, along with many…
What Amnesty International gets wrong about Israel's vaccine programme
Israel’s remarkable vaccine rollout has been deservedly praised. But not everyone is full of goodwill. Depressingly and inevitably, commentators and human…
Despite Covid, things really are getting better
If Covid-19 had swept Britain in 1800, the chances are that no one would have noticed. The clinical signatures of…
So much for cooler heads prevailing
There was a glimmer of hope amid the events at the US Capitol building on Wednesday. Could this be the…
MAGA arrives at the last level of the video game
I played my share of video games when I was a kid and there was nothing quite like getting to…
Trump’s social media ban sets a dangerous precedent
Facebook and Twitter’s decision to suspend Donald Trump is, legally speaking, fairly clear-cut. Both are private companies which set the…
