International
Two Words You Won’t Hear This Election: Foreign Policy
At a time of chaos across three continents, neither David Cameron nor Ed Miliband is willing to reconsider Britain’s place in the world seriously
Strangers in their own Holy Land
The embattled Christian communities in Bethlehem and Nazareth
Liberty Here, Tyranny There
The apologetics over John Stuart Mill’s shocking attitudes towards foreigners is the only thing that lets down Georgios Varouxakis’s otherwise excellent study of the political philosopher
Underrated: Tony Blair
The former Prime Minister, whose call for Western military intervention in Syria is consistent with his words and actions in office
Kerry’s Carry-On
‘Why is John Kerry’s plane shuttling to Tel Aviv? The US is not even attempting to stop the killing in Syria or Egypt’
Neoconservatism: A Good Idea That Won’t Go Away
Critics like to think that neoconservative ideas lie buried in the sands of Iraq. But neocons are still in the mainstream of US politics
Pyongyang’s Ballistic Bluff
‘A North Korean attack could be the last nail in the coffin of unchallenged American power in the world’
Why Was There No Holy Roman Project?
Brendan Simms’s new epic history of Europe is an earnest and old-fashioned of great power rivalries
It’s Too Late To Stop Syria Disintegrating
When the dust settles in Damascus, the country will have been torn apart and, as in Yugoslavia, the process will be irreversible
Underestimating Jong Un
‘Western optimists like to assume North Korea is on the verge of implosion. But the hermit kingdom is not going to collapse any time soon’
Why Remoaners should back Boris
“Boris, ironically, now offers Remoaners the best chance of a soft Brexit, or at least a sensible one. And to those who want a second referendum—’the people’s vote’—there may even be a chance of that too.”
On the road
“In the summer of 1980, in the grip of some Kerouac-ish fantasy, I opted to hitch-hike from Laredo to New York”
Discovering the Great War of China
A third of a million Chinese labourers helped the Allies defeat the Kaiser, but their huge unsung contribution ended in betrayal