February 2023
Putin’s ultimate aim is to seal Russia off from the West
The Russian president’s state of the nation speech shows how domestic repression is closely tied to the Ukraine campaign.
September 2022
Victory to Italian right is no lurch into extremism
Most Italian premiers don’t last a full term. If it turns out differently for Giorgia Meloni, that might well be her biggest achievement of all.
July 2022
Draghi’s exit reflects time-honoured tradition in Italian politics
Mario Draghi’s national unity administration lasted 17 months, slightly longer than the average term for the 69 governments since the Second World War.
November 2021
A political experiment takes shape under Scholz in Germany
The coalition agreement made public this week conceals what are potentially awkward policy differences among the three parties, which have never governed together at national level.
August 2020
Belarus sheds the carapace of dictatorship
In Belarus it turns out that ordinary people want exactly what their counterparts elsewhere across eastern Europe wanted 31 years ago. They want to see the back of a dictator.
January 2020
Putin blames WWII outbreak on Europe and Hitler
Russia's manipulation of history has returned with a vengeance.
December 2019
Four implications of Boris Johnson’s victory
Boris Johnson can claim to have broken a vicious cycle, but his reshaped Conservative Party will have its work cut out to hold the UK together.