Iran
This Deal Is No Deal
“The nuclear agreement is the best deal that Iran could have hoped for”
Subverting The Superpowers
Efraim Karsh’s book on the creation of the modern Middle East is timely but overstates his case
The Grand Illusion
‘It is tempting to pretend that the mayhem unleashed by the Arab Spring will somehow not affect us. It will. It already does’
The President Blinked — The Ayatollah Didn’t
Obama’s foreign policy has been defined by a failure to hold his ground against determined foes. The deal with Iran is his latest capitulation
Fait Pas Accompli
‘The gulf between Israel and the Obama administration will continue after Netanyahu’s re-election’
Unethical Tourism
‘It seems a little early for me to give my trust and travellers cheques to Iran, merely on the promise that the new leader smiles more than the last’
A Sham Deal
“The Obama White House has bought into Iran’s narrative that there is a convergence of interests over Islamic State in Syria and Iraq”
Not-So-Revolutionary Rouhani
Hassan Rouhani, Iran’s president, and his new administration want to save the Islamic Revolution, not reform it
The Rouhani Delusion
‘Thanks to sanctions, the West was winning the race against a nuclear Iran. There is a good chance now that Iran will be the victor’
No Deal
‘The United States and other powers appear resigned to conceding, in the final stage of a future agreement with Iran, that Tehran has a right to enrich uranium’
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