In 64BC, Roman general Pompey annexed a potentially volatile Syria. Then, as now, where Western concerns are paramount, intervention needs to be diplomatic and risk-taking

Three years after revolution first hit the Middle East, it remains unclear whether countries in the region will yet forge pluralistic democracies

Thanks to his leap of faith, this gloomy Dane has been neglected by the intelligentsia

Diarmaid MacCulloch's new book on the Christian Church is entitled Silence but it might've been better if he'd just kept quiet