A sandcastle in the sun: Putin’s first year back in power
Vladimir Putin may still be the most popular politician in Russia, but his system of government is showing certain signs of weakness one year after returning to power.
Human Rights
Does Jordan’s election change anything?
Jordan's elections were widely considered a success, but the country continues to face two critical challenges: dealing with overspill from the Syrian conflict, and a badly stumbling economy.
Cameron’s backward looking speech
Cameron's EU speech is a bad miscalculation that underestimates how much the world has changed, and how much Britain needs Europe if it is to retain an influential voice in global affairs.
Sanctions: a useful but flawed alternative to war
Sanctions are the EU's sole coercive instrument of power short of military action (Brussels, mercifully, does not engage in warfare). The EU needs to understand their impact so that it can use them more effectively.
In 2013, the great global unraveling
The main theme of 2013 is likely to be the unraveling of the global economy and supporting political integration.
Ten trends for 2013
2012 saw continuing crisis in the eurozone, growing Euroscepticism and populism in some corners of Europe, faltering transitions in Egypt and elsewhere, more violence in Syria, a new leadership in China, and both Putin II and Obama II. So what will 2013 hold?
China and the US: mirror image challenges
The leadership election in the US and the selection in China are mirror images of each other. So are the challenges that each will face, with implications not just for the US and China, but for the rest of the world.
Europe’s role in the Arab Spring
The outcome of the uprisings in North Africa is still in the balance and although it will be mainly up to the North Africans themselves to decide their future, Europe has a key role to play on the side of reform – especially Paris, Rome and Madrid.
Who is winning on human rights at the UN?
The gathering of world leaders at the United Nations this week will be punctuated by angry statements on the Syrian…
Democracy and the EU’s ‘strategic partnerships’
If the EU has any real aspiration to be a normative power it must rethink its 'strategic partnerships' with the world's other powers, reflecting the importance of values like democracy, rather than ignoring them.