Putin's Crimean adventure, US isolation and EU decline show that the Western Allies urgently need to come up with a new strategy

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.

Russia may dominate world maps, but it is an economic pygmy compared with the developed nations as a bloc

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'