NewsBite

Gideon Rachman

This Month

A cleric clenches his fist as he celebrates Iran’s missile strike against Israel in an anti-Israeli gathering in Tehran.

Trump could be the biggest winner from Middle East escalation

The former president claims the world was at peace during his rule and that the “weakness” of the Biden administration has led to wars in Europe and the Levant.

September

A billboard bearing a picture of slain Lebanese Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah on display in Tehran.

Israel’s dream of a new Middle East order could become a nightmare

With its decapitation of Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Israeli government hopes that it has finally seized the initiative in the battle with its regional enemies.

Kamala Harris

Harris must dazzle in debate or face defeat

The Democratic candidate badly needs a breakthrough in this week’s televised debate to restore momentum to her faltering campaign.

Elon Musk

Why Elon Musk is much more powerful than you think

His influence is showing up from Ukraine to China, angering the United States, although he still lacks the ability to make the law.

August

Ukrainians prepare to fire rockets towards Russian positions near Chasiv Yar town, in Donetsk region.

An aggressive Ukraine has crossed Washington’s red line

Volodymyr Zelensky is prepared to ignore Russia’s nuclear threats. But the Biden administration is still wary of escalating the war.

Advertisement

July

Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin in 2019.

The real danger that Trump would pose for Ukraine

Agreeing to Russia’s demand for a neutral Ukraine, as a new Republican presidency might, could leave the country at the mercy of Vladimir Putin’s long-term ambitions.

The race between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump will heat up in the coming month.

Why Donald Trump’s perfect target is ‘woke’ Kamala Harris

The election centres on who scares US voters the most. Republicans fear Harris will target white men, while Democrats say Trump is a would-be dictator.

The Trump campaign will certainly use the attempted assassination to ram home two key themes of the campaign: strength and victimhood.

The 2024 presidential election is not over yet

Millions of “never Trump” voters are unlikely to become “yes Trumpers”, however appalled they are by the vile attempted murder.

The centre ground in French politics is shrinking – and with it the authority of President Emmanuel Macron.

Europe now leaderless as global threats rise

President Emmanuel Macron’s authority in Europe has shrunk after chaotic national elections, while the UK’s influence has been hobbled by Brexit.

French far-right leader Marine Le Pen.

Liberals panic worldwide as Trump, Le Pen rise

Liberals are in for a long struggle as nationalist populism surges in the US and Europe.

June

Protesters demonstrate against the far-right and racism in central Paris.

Unstable France could trigger the next euro crisis

Runaway budget deficits and a confrontation with Brussels and Berlin are a formula for trouble.

Vladimir Putin attends Russia’s Victory Day military parade in Moscow.

Why Putin’s nuclear weapons threats are a flop

The Western alliance is intensifying its support for Ukraine in a way that was unthinkable at the beginning of the war.

May

Joe Biden.

America is undermining global rules, not defending them

Washington should dial down its claim to be protecting an international order that is clearly in decline, and instead talk up its defence of the free world.

The ICC has applied for an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Arrest warrants huge blow for Israel and massive gamble by ICC

The question of how the US president responds to this, along with Congress, now becomes critical.

  • Updated
Benjamin Netanyahu at a wreath-laying ceremony marking Holocaust Remembrance Day in Jerusalem on Monday.

Israel cannot stand alone and Netanyahu knows it

The American decision to restrict arms sales could be a turning point in the US-Israel relationship.

Advertisement

April

Ukraine

Cashed-up Ukraine is front line of push against ‘axis of adversaries’

The Western alliance is playing a potentially deadly mind game with Russia, China, Iran and North Korea – deploying military force to prevent a wider war.

The risks to Biden of Israel going rogue against Iran

The problem is that ‘ironclad’ support can be read as a blank cheque to Israel to take whatever military action it sees fit — confident that, when the chips are down, America will have its back.

  • Updated
Vladimir Putin with Donald Trump in 2017.

Putin waiting for Washington to collapse if Trump wins

The Russian leader sees an opportunity to re-establish a sphere of influence in Europe if Donald Trump is re-elected US president.

  • Updated

March

Relations between Joe Biden and Benjamin Netanyahu have deteriorated.

Biden must show Netanyahu who’s in charge

The US president must apply far more pressure on Israel’s prime minister to pull back on his military attacks in Gaza that have left thousands of civilians dead.

February

<p>

Putin’s global fan club is only getting stronger

Admirers of the Russian leader may soon lead the world’s largest democracies of India and the US, after Indonesia also elected a Putin fan this month.

Original URL: https://www.afr.com/by/gideon-rachman-h1fpqq