George W. Bush
The Rehabilitation of George W Bush: A Sisyphean Task
Freddy Gray is quite correct: the drive to rehabilitate George W Bush is suspicious. It is also a dog that won’t hunt. It is true that recent opinion polls have… Continue reading
8 Comments The suspiciously sudden rehabilitation of George W. Bush
Are we hearing the opening chords of the George W. Bush redemption song? The Atlantic thinks so. This week he’s opening his huge presidential library, and a new Washington-ABC poll shows that… Continue reading
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Picking sides in Syria, the Algerian experience
Some thirty-five years ago, in 1977 to be exact, I first published A Savage War of Peace, a definitive history of France’s war in Algeria. The war dragged on from… Continue reading
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Briefing: The US fiscal cliff
With the elections over and Barack Obama returned to the White House for four more years, the attention of US politicians has turned to the so-called ‘fiscal cliff’ — a… Continue reading
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Mitt Romney is no George W Bush. That’s a problem.
Failed presidencies have long half-lives. Just ask Walter Mondale or Michael Dukakis. Jimmy Carter’s legacy wasn’t the only reason they lost but they certainly received no assistance from the great… Continue reading
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Interview: John R. MacArthur on the US election
When Barack Obama entered the White House in January 2009, millions of citizens across the United States believed it was a new dawn for the American political system. Obama promised… Continue reading
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Conventional wisdom says the conventions are awful. Conventional wisdom is correct. - Spectator Blogs
My friend Kerry Howley heroically tried to find something nice to say about the conventions now mercifully past; I’m made of cheaper stuff and have written a piece for Foreign… Continue reading
7 CommentsThe Difficult Matter of Praising George W Bush
Will Inboden is frustrated that Barack Obama so rarely has anything nice to say about President George W Bush even when his administration has benefitted from US policies Obama inherited… Continue reading
1 CommentFrom the archives: Bush in London
You may have noticed that Barack Obama came to the country on a state visit this week. But he wasn’t the first US President to be extended an invitation from… Continue reading
2 CommentsAlan Greenspan doesn’t exist
Five years have passed since Alan Greenspan stepped down from the most influential banking job in the world. (Now that’s how to leave at the right time.) Described in books,… Continue reading
21 CommentsOsama Bin Laden’s death: the world responds
We have already seen Barack Obama’s statement on the death of Osama Bin Laden. Below is more reaction from across the world: David Cameron: “The news that Osama Bin Laden… Continue reading
15 CommentsA new dawn for Dubya?
Who is the unsung hero of the Egyptian revolution? Why, the 43rd President of the United States of course. (And, presumably, Tony Blair as well.) Reuel Marc Gerecht leapt to… Continue reading
23 CommentsDemocracy is now Halal
The popular uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia have exposed as nonsense the notion, held in many quarters, that Middle Easterners – be they Arabs, Persians, Muslims and Christians – are… Continue reading
46 CommentsThe neoconservatives were right
The last six years have been fallow ones for the neoconservatives. From around 2005, when Iraq began its descent into chaos, the ideology that did so much to shape US… Continue reading
31 CommentsStability versus freedom?
Since the Iraq War, there has been a protracted silence about whether or not the West should promote democracy and human rights in the Middle East. Predominantly, we have looked… Continue reading
19 CommentsIn Cote D’Ivoire, New Year may bring a new Africa
The situation in Cote D’Ivoire is heating up. It has the potential either to herald a new future for West Africa, based on democracy, regional cooperation and a rejection of… Continue reading
30 CommentsReality-Based Fiscal Conservatism
Bully for George Osborne. His interview with James and Fraser contains heaps of good sense. Most especially when he defends his attitude towards tax: Asked if he regards Britain as… Continue reading
9 CommentsBritain should have a Freedom Minister
Has liberal democracy lifted people out of poverty? To a casual observer, the answer is unequivocally yes. One part of the world – the industrialised democratic northern half – is… Continue reading
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