International politics
A hard rain’s a-gonna fall over Syria
You know what it’s like. It starts getting hotter. Stickier, too. There’s something in the air you can’t quite put your finger on. But you sense it all the same.… Continue reading
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The Worst Argument Yet for Intervening in Syria: If We Don’t, Other Countries Will Snigger At Britain
We should, I suppose, be grateful to Benedict Brogan for his column today examining some of the reasons for why Britain should become more heavily involved in the Syrian civil war.… Continue reading
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Just Give War A Chance: Obama’s Realpolitik Approach to the Syrian Civil War.
Boris Johnson makes a strong case in today’s Telegraph that even if the west wanted to intervene in the Syrian civil war the point at which is was plausible to do so… Continue reading
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Cameron wants to change the military balance in Syria, but how do you do that without arming the Islamists?
David Cameron and Vladimir Putin have just concluded their pre G8 talks, the main topic of which was Syria. Cameron wants to use the next few days to try and… Continue reading
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Obama’s decision to arm the Syrian rebels will do little to address the Hezbollah threat
Two years too late and with less than full conviction President Obama has finally announced that his administration will aid the Syrian rebels with lethal force. This follows confirmation by… Continue reading
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Yasser Arafat poisoning: Light fuse, stand back
The wife of President Arafat, Suha, is understandably anxious. Next week, after nine years, she may finally learn whether her husband was assassinated. It will be hard to overestimate the… Continue reading
28 Comments
The tragedy of Taksim square
First he set the police on his own people, now ‘democratic’ Prime Minister Erdogan is refusing even to meet them. The peace talks he promised are being held not with… Continue reading
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Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones goes mad on BBC Sunday Politics
Everyone enjoys a good conspiracy theory, particularly Alex Jones. His Infowars.com site can explain every single problem in the world through his theories on the rise of the ‘New World… Continue reading
75 Comments
Solar panels are just another example of Brussels’ wrong priorities
Over the years, Brussels has become adept at dishing out heavy-handed and often disproportionate pan-EU ‘solutions’ to problems that are very often not problems for the majority of Member States.… Continue reading
78 Comments
Syria: when ‘red lines’ make the headlines
What is a red line, exactly? We’ve been hearing a lot of talk about ‘red lines’ from our politicians in recent weeks in relation to Syria, chemical weapons, and western… Continue reading
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The Chilcot Inquiry is a pointless endeavour. Tony Blair’s critics will never be satisfied.
I never really saw the point of the Chilcot Inquiry and nothing that has happened in the years since it first sat has persuaded me I was wrong to think… Continue reading
43 Comments
Lee Rigby named as victim of Woolwich attack
The Ministry of Defence has named the solider killed in Woolwich yesterday as Lee Rigby of the 2nd Battalion of the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers. Rigby, 25 and father of… Continue reading
92 Comments
‘Soldier beheaded’ in south London: the Islamists repeatedly said they would do such things
Similar attacks in recent years include the beheading of a Dutch film-maker, Theo van Gogh, on a street in Amsterdam in 2004 and the killing of French soldiers by Mohammed… Continue reading
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No, Iran does not posses nuclear weapons
In the course of a long career as a polemical journalist I have got thoroughly used to being insulted, libelled and attacked in a multitude of different ways. It comes… Continue reading
76 Comments
The Miracle of Globalisation: Most of the World has Never Had It So Good
Could life in Bangladesh be better? Of course it could. Is life in Bangladesh getting better? Of course it is. The horrific death toll after a factory building collapsed in… Continue reading
23 Comments
In Praise of Sweatshops
In today’s Telegraph David Blair has a strong and angry piece arguing that we – that is, western consumers – are complicit in or partially responsible for the deaths of… Continue reading
70 Comments
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
Why oh why oh why can’t Barack Obama be more like Lyndon Johnson?
So, is Barack Obama a wimp or just another lame-duck second-term President? Maureen Dowd, in her typically sophomoric fashion, appears to believe that the failure to pass gun control legislation… Continue reading
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Has the taxpayer received bang for buck from Baroness Ashton?
A great deal of fuss is being made about Baroness Ashton’s retirement salary. She leaves her ludicrous post as High Representative for Foreign Affairs at the European Union next year… Continue reading
33 Comments
Paolo Di Canio is right — Italian Fascism was not racist
The truth is that the new Sunderland manager Paolo Di Canio is right: Italian Fascism was not racist — at least not until its fatal alliance with German National Socialism.… Continue reading
90 Comments