Syria
Libya is what happens when we try to bomb things better
Call me petulant, but I’m not sure Britain is getting enough credit for our fine, fine work in Libya. The…
Why Saudi Arabia is kicking back against the USA
Why America’s once-cautious ally suddenly looks so skittish
Mercenaries could transform the fight against Isis – if we let them
Private military contractors have done wonders against Boko Haram. They could against Isis, too
Smash Isis now – or we’ll all pay later
Assassinate its leadership, destroy its sense of destiny
Portrait of the week
Home The country went to the polls. David Cameron, the Conservative leader, prepared by going around with his sleeves rolled…
How Lampedusa copes when the migrant ships come in
Encounters with those who have risked their lives to cross the Mediterranean
Portrait of the week
Home The prospect of a parliamentary alliance between Labour and the Scottish National Party injected an element of fear into…
Whose fault is the jihadi bride? Certainly not her astonishing dad
Like you, I suspect, I have been terribly worried these last few weeks over the plight of 15-year-old Amira Abase.…
Portrait of the week
Home Sir Malcolm Rifkind, the former Conservative foreign secretary, resigned as chairman of Parliament’s Intelligence and Security Committee and promised…
How do bright schoolgirls fall for jihadis? The same way they fall for Justin Bieber
How could they? How could girls brought up in the wealthy West abandon their families and their own bright futures…
A state of terror: Islamic State longs to be left alone to establish its blood-stained utopia
The Sykes-Picot agreement will be 100 years old next year, but there will be no congratulatory telegrams winging their way…
Portrait of the week
Home More than 1,100 imams and Islamic leaders received a letter from Eric Pickles, the Communities Secretary, and Lord Ahmad…
Only Muslims can stop more terror attacks
Why young men turn to terror – and how to stop them
Why does Isis slay hostages? To cover up the fact that it’s losing
Isis slaughters kidnap victims because it guarantees headlines. It's better at slaughtering innocents than it is at winning wars
Please, Theresa, let Anjem Choudary go and get himself killed
The news is always grim, isn’t it? Doom and gloom everywhere. And even the news which appears to be good…
How Islamic State commanders squeeze their hostages for every penny
Islamic State commanders know exactly how to extract the greatest possible profit from their hostages. Some care about little else
The shameful truth: Britain lets in far too few refugees
Britain’s appalling record on refugees is a moral failure, and national disgrace
Portrait of the week
Home The last British combat troops turned over Camp Bastion in Helmand to Afghan forces and withdrew from Afghanistan after…
Why I’ve joined Lebanon’s exodus
The long shadow of the Islamic State means that many Christians are packing up and leaving Lebanon
Portrait of the week
Home A hundred firemen could not prevent wooden cooling towers at Didcot B gas-fuelled power station in Oxfordshire from burning…
Wear a veil if you like – but don’t treat women like that
What sort of clothing do you wear when you go to the opera? I assume some of you do go…
Does Jonathan Powell really want to negotiate with the Islamic State?
Jonathan Powell’s stance on negotiating with violent extremists is consistently inconsistent and slippery
Portrait of the week
Home The Commons, having been specially recalled, passed, by 524 votes to 43, a motion supporting ‘the use of UK…
What will it take for us to stop doing business with Qatar?
Qatari money has flooded into London – but also into much less savoury places
The good fight
It is a mark of the uncertainty of our policy in the Middle East that just over a year ago…
