Ukraine
Is Germany already backsliding on Russia?
Just three weeks after Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced that Germany would directly arm Ukraine, Europe’s economic powerhouse is running out…
Boris’s Brexit-Ukraine comparison was a mistake
After years of post-Brexit rancour,the last few weeks have been a striking display of European (not just EU) unity. Britain…
Francis Fukuyama on Ukraine, liberalism and identity politics
This week, Sam Leith spoke to Francis Fukuyama – the author of ‘The End of History and the Last Man’ and…
Bono's 'poem' was an insult to the craft of verse
‘Poet’, said Robert Frost, ‘is a praise-word’. So it is. That explains in part the unabashed delight with which Colm…
Putin and the Muslim world
Several thousand Muslim Chechen fighters are reportedly massing on the edge of Kiev. Syrian volunteers, filmed this week holding assault…
It doesn’t matter if Putin is mad
Mike Tyson put it simply: ‘Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth’. And Vladimir Putin has…
How to fix Britain’s broken asylum system
Asylum is often seen as a simple morality tale—the generous spirited are in favour of it, the hard-hearted against. And…
Why is Putin firing a hypersonic missile in Ukraine?
Putin, like many other belligerent autocrats, does like his Wunderwaffen, or ‘wonder weapons.’ Now it appears he’s even used one…
The Russian army is running out of momentum
As the Russian invasion enters its fourth week it is clear that its forces are running out of momentum, although…
Is Putin really losing?
I remember my father telling me about Imre Nagy’s final broadcast before the Hungarian leader was taken by the Russians…
I stink at virtue signalling
The lodger looked at me blankly and pronounced wearily, as though intoning something he was tired of parroting, that I…
Why was the Hunter Biden laptop story covered up?
It’s now a familiar pattern – a sensational news story is dismissed by serious journalists as bogus right-wing agitprop. You’d…
Russia had nothing to do with Brexit
In light of Russia’s abhorrent invasion of Ukraine, certain corners of the internet have become obsessed – yet again – with Russia’s supposed…
The West has to bite its lip for Saudi oil
It would be ridiculous to claim that Boris Johnson’s visit to Saudi Arabia is not morally problematic. He is going…
Ukrainians fear Chechen fighters. Russian soldiers hate them
Residents fleeing the Kiev suburb of Bucha reported Chechens machine-gunning cars, even those with the word ‘children’written in their windscreens.…
Why do Russian tennis stars need to condemn Putin?
Nigel Huddleston is Under-Secretary of State for Sport, Tourism, Heritage and Civil Society, hardly the biggest job in government. Yet…
Turkish drones are transforming the war in Ukraine
Istanbul, Turkey A cheer rings out in a secret command centre. On the screen, another Russian missile launcher has vanished…
Can Britain afford to spend more on defence?
With rumours swirling that the Ministry of Defence will see its budget boosted in next week’s spring statement it’s hard…
What happens if Russia defaults?
Well down the list of things to worry about as the ghastly Ukrainian tragedy unfolds is the high probability that the…
The West needs to prepare for guerrilla war in Ukraine
Russia’s deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov warned this week that convoys of weapons being sent to Ukraine would be considered…
The fatal miscalculation that led to war in Ukraine
The war against Ukraine – or the ‘special military operation’ as it is compulsorily known in Moscow – has lasted…
Russia has been preparing for war with the US for decades
The lights were blinking off. As raucous pro- and anti-Trump crowds flooded into Washington for the presidential inauguration in January…
The reality of being ‘under siege’ in Kyiv
Kyiv, Ukraine I’ve never commuted into a warzone by train before, but I can now recommend it. The express train…
Putin’s dream of annexing Ukraine is over
As the Russian invasion of Ukraine enters its third week, it is becoming abundantly clear that the Kremlin’s maximalist geopolitical…
What if Putin hasn’t miscalculated – but the West has?
Has the West miscalculated?
