Opinion
Insight and opinion on politics and policy.
Turkey: Difficult to live with, nearly impossible to live without
Erdoğan may make for a very complicated ally, but the country’s strategic importance to the Alliance is clear.
How to fight — and how not to fight — stagflation
Belgium’s prisoner swap deal will only encourage Iranian terrorism
Europe can stop Taiwan from becoming the next Ukraine
NATO and the EU have the power to protect this democracy and its values — but they need to be prepared.
Europe’s debt to Chechens
We have all too often been complicit in the persecution of the country’s dissidents and exiles.
It’s time Europe pays attention to Libya
Escalating tensions threaten to hurl the country back into civil war, and will have consequences for Europe and the wider international community.
Europe must support the free press in Russia
The bloc’s pledge to help Ukraine lacks an essential element: doing everything possible to ensure free and objective information.
Europe needs energy solidarity — not a North-South rift
The bloc must urgently implement a compensation scheme to prevent Putin from dividing member countries.
Italy’s technocratic anomaly
The country needs to develop a new, wiser political culture that seeks to stabilize its politics.
What the UK needs from the next Conservative leader
The problem of the last few years isn’t that we made the wrong promises — it’s that we haven’t delivered on them.
Iran: Time for a plan B
If we simply cling to the idea that negotiations will lead to resolution, we’ll be sleepwalking as we did with Russia.
Europe’s far right and the new racist normal
As prejudiced rhetoric becomes a political fixture across the bloc, Europe is setting a disturbing tone.
Seize Macron’s idea of a ‘European Political Community’
EU membership doesn’t have to be a binary choice, governed by the one-size-fits-all strictures of previous enlargements.
Spanish PM: Europe needs leaders like Mario Draghi
The Italian prime minister’s ideas have been key to dealing with the challenges the continent has faced.
To withstand authoritarian threats, ethics standards must be stronger
Those committed to resisting populism need to get better at fighting back — and need a stronger ethics system to do so.
Italy’s fantasy politics: A possible answer to the shamelessness of UK politics
The key to confronting this new culture of norms-busting may just lie in Fantacitorio, a game conceived to make sense of political absurdity.
Kazakhstan: Trapped between Russia and the West
As the geopolitical split in Eurasia widens, the country’s balancing act will be a hard feat to pull off.
Label Putin’s Russia a ‘terrorist state’
The designation would have dramatic legal consequences for the war in Ukraine, and it’s time for the world to act.
There’s no energy security without national sovereignty
In the Continent-wide shift away from dependency on Russian oil and gas, Central Europe is paving its own path.
The European Commission’s disinformation fail
The bloc’s revised code steps back from the fight at hand, directly capitulating to Silicon Valley platforms.
Orbán’s tax veto is an attack on social Europe
Unanimity in tax policy is detrimental to the principles that are supposed to underpin Europe’s social model.
Johnson’s exit won’t change Brexit
Relations with the EU will remain the third rail of U.K. politics.
In defense of Boris Johnson
Not all will share his enthusiasm for Brexit and its bold reassertion of national sovereignty, but none can deny its seismic significance.
When it comes to Erdoğan, there’s no easy solution
Turkey’s leveraging its newfound strategic relevance, and will continue to do so in the weeks and months ahead.
Boris Johnson’s manner of going was in keeping with his character
Even Margaret Thatcher ultimately understood when told her time was up — Johnson had a very different view and tried to hang on.
It’s time for Bulgaria and North Macedonia to move forward
As the ongoing quarrel spills over into the EU, leaders should shift their focus to the more practical concerns of their constituents.
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Boris Johnson: Assisted suicide or fratricide?
The manner of the prime minister’s departure may trigger more Tory bloodletting.