Vladimir Putin
Red Pawn
How chess became a tool of totalitarian Communism
Keeping Them all in Awe
Unless Europeans and Americans reform government by cutting back its functions and adopting the best practice in delivering services, from Indian medicine to Singaporean welfare, they risk being overtaken by China and other rivals.
Reality Check for the West
The betrayal of Ukraine is only the latest chapter in the slow retreat of Western civilisation since the triumph of 1989. Unless something changes soon, that retreat now threatens to become a stampede.
Russia Versus Ukraine
Vladimir Putin is often described as being like a grandmaster in his moves on the diplomatic board. This is based on the clichéd view that Russian skill at chess is a function of national character — which it isn’t: besides which, Putin’s moves are conditioned by rage and resentment, which leads to highly irrational decisions.
As America Retreats, the World Goes to Hell
The Ukraine crisis has revealed the incoherence of the Obama doctrine. Until the US reasserts itself, liberal democracy is in danger
Europe Cannot Do Without Putin’s Gas
It will be another decade before the Continent can substitute the product of American fracking for Russian energy piped via Ukraine
Father of Russia’s Conservatism
Putin’s ideology can be traced back to Sergey Uvarov
Underrated: Nadezhda Tolokonnikova
The star of Pussy Riot combines beauty and charisma with quiet courage and a remarkable mind
The Enemy Within
Jack Ryan is a modern hero taking on a modern Russia
Playing With The Devil
When should sporting events be boycotted?
Tolerating the intolerant
“For those who thought that a global pandemic would sound the death knell for identity politics, think again”
How to prevent the next pandemic
‘I have been reporting as a science journalist for years that the world is at increasing risk of pandemics like this; that this was predicted; that we know what we need to do to prepare and we simply haven’t done it; and that more and worse pandemics are coming so we need to do that, now’
D’où parles-tu? The post-truth world
Power, illusion and the open society: how postmodernism undermines our foundational concepts