Russia
When is a democracy not a democracy?
Displaying the pristine neutrality that has made her such a popular figure, Newsnight’s Emily Maitlis apparently tweeted the following last…
Britain's Magnitsky sanctions will hit Putin where it hurts
It’s rare for a Government minister to make an announcement that is universally welcomed in the House of Commons. But…
Imperialism is far from over, but gathering force in disguise
From ancient times, empires have risen and fallen, driven by war, territorial acquisition, trade, plunder, religion, ideology, technology, culture and…
Can Putin survive the coronavirus stress test?
Coronavirus is a double whammy for his regime
Covid-19 is testing Putin's regime
Vladimir Putin is observing the old adage that you should never let a good crisis go to waste. With the…
The Russia probe was mishandled worse than anyone could have imagined
It’s been over three years since the FBI first launched its investigation into an alleged conspiracy between the 2016 Trump…
An extraordinary tale: BBC2’s The Countess and the Russian Billionaire reviewed
There can’t be many programmes that bring to mind quotations from both Henry Kissinger and Boney M., but BBC2’s The…
Corona confusion is being ruthlessly weaponised
Few words have as great a hold on the contemporary imagination as ‘disinformation.’ Few words are as ubiquitous in contemporary…
Crude tactics: Russia and Saudi Arabia are at war over oil prices
Russia and Saudi Arabia have chosen this moment to go to war over oil prices
Portrait of the week: Prince Harry leaves, Jess Phillips drops out and Trump goes on trial
Home The Duke of Sussex left England to join his wife, Meghan, in Canada. This followed an agreement that stripped…
The hunt is on for Putin’s successor
Putin does like to spring a surprise. The first hour or so of his state of the nation address yesterday…
I’ll take Russian democracy over ours
Staraya Russa. About two thirds of the way from Moscow to St Petersburg, in the historic Novgorod Oblast, once the…
Tsar quality: the charm of Tbilisi
‘These regions are not under the control of the central government,’ reads a warning on a map of Georgia in…
The age of invective
A healthy democracy requires free speech and free assembly, tolerance for different views, and peaceful transfers of power among contending parties. It requires…
How will history judge Brexit?
How will future generations revisit the Brexit years? Through what glass will we be seen? This spring and, I suspect,…
Robert Mueller pursued every avenue to dispel the collusion myth
If the report released Thursday proved anything, it was that Robert Mueller and his team of prosecutors had an extremely…
Barr investigates the investigators
‘OBAMA TAPPED MY PHONES!’ When President Trump blared out this accusation in a series of tweets in March 2017, the White…
Two football books examine where money is taking the modern game
‘Football holds a mirror to ourselves,’ Michael Calvin asserts in State of Play. Modern football is angrier, more brutal, more…
Trumpworld is spinning out of control
Donald Trump’s Twitter feed was oddly silent as the news came that his former campaign manager and his former lawyer…
The plight of the returnee: A Terrible Country, by Keith Gessen, reviewed
If the 20th century popularised the figure of the émigré, the 21st has introduced that of the returnee, who, aided…
The magnificent Atkinsons: rigours of travel in 19th-century Russia
Russia has always attracted a certain breed of foreigner: adventurers, drawn to the country’s vastness and emptiness; chancers, seeking fortunes…
Assad is back for good in Syria – and with Trump’s blessing
Amid the confusion and the almost deafening cries of treachery and collusion over Donald Trump’s relations with Russia, few noticed…
Rarely have I sat through such a chaotic and whimsical script: Describe the Night reviewed
Describe the Night opens in Poland in 1920 where two Russian soldiers, Isaac and Nikolai, discuss truth and falsehood. Next…
The rise – and rise – of Trump Derangement Syndrome
New York ‘What do we do with these men?’ thundered a New York Times headline. It was followed by a…
Corbyn’s profoundly anti-western worldview is fully exposed at last
The Tories’ great worry after the last election was that they had effectively vaccinated the electorate against Jeremy Corbyn. They…
