Latest articles

Our latest articles are listed below.  For earlier articles, navigate our Articles Archive via the Categories list on the right. The Archive contains all articles published since 2002.

Sweden’s triumphant shipwreck

On 26th February, Hungary approved Sweden’s application to join NATO. Almost two years after applying to join the Western alliance, and despite prolonged obstructionism from Hungary and Turkey, the Nordic country is finally in. On the face of it, a triumph for Sweden – and also for NATO. But it also marks the complete shipwreck of more than 100 years of hallowed, yet disastrous Swedish foreign and security policy.

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The state of UK politics

My piece last week on the state of American politics led to a number of my UK readers drawing parallels with politics in Britain, and asking whether the UK was inevitably fated to go down the same path.

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The return of Donald Trump

Although the US primary season has only just begun, both races look to be already decided – barring a major surprise, the presidential election this November will again be between Joe Biden and Donald Trump. Biden’s success in the Democratic primaries is entirely as expected, as sitting presidents who choose to run again almost never fail to be re-nominated. Trump’s success, in the face of multiple court cases, is more unusual, and requires a bit more explanation.

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Democracy on trial

2024 will be an interesting and important year for democracy, as the coming 12 months will see more elections, covering a larger proportion of the world’s population, than for many a year. And with faith in politicians of all stripes at a low ebb, there is a growing sense that it is not just the democratic parties and their leaders who will be judged and assessed, but to a very real extent democracy itself as well.

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