Europe
Mark Rutte’s Government Collapsed Over Migration. Sometimes Compromise Is What Keeps Democracy Working. Sometimes Refusing It Does.
The Dutch government collapsed on Friday after the four parties governing the Netherlands failed to reach an agreement over migration policy. Prime Minister Mark Rutte, who has led the country since 2010, will remain in…
France’s Riots Began With a Police Shooting. They Are About More Than One Police Officer.
France has spent much of this week experiencing its most serious urban unrest in years. On Tuesday morning, police stopped 17-year-old Nahel Merzouk while he was driving in Nanterre, a western suburb of Paris. Video…
India and America Are Getting Closer. That Does Not Mean India Is Becoming an American Ally.
Narendra Modi will travel to Washington this week for a state visit hosted by President Joe Biden, including a state dinner and an address to a joint meeting of the US Congress. The ceremony will…
The Kakhovka Dam Has Been Destroyed. Modern Wars Are Increasingly Fought Through the Systems Civilians Depend On.
The Kakhovka Dam in southern Ukraine was destroyed early on Tuesday, releasing an enormous volume of water from the reservoir behind it into communities along the Dnipro River. Thousands of people have been evacuated from…
The G7 Does Not Want to Stop Trading With China. It Wants to Stop Being Unable to Function Without It.
The leaders of the G7 met in Hiroshima this weekend with Ukraine dominating much of the summit. Volodymyr Zelenskyy travelled to Japan, the G7 reaffirmed military, financial and diplomatic support for Ukraine and announced further…
Sanna Marin Became One of Europe’s Most Recognisable Leaders. Finnish Voters Still Judged Her Government on Finland.
Sanna Marin’s Social Democrats have lost Finland’s parliamentary election tonight, although describing the result simply as a rejection of Marin would be misleading. The Social Democrats actually increased their share of the vote compared with…
Macron’s Pension Reform May Be Constitutional. That Does Not Automatically Make It Politically Legitimate.
France’s retirement age is supposed to rise from 62 to 64 under a pension reform that President Emmanuel Macron argues is necessary to protect the financial sustainability of the country’s pension system. The policy itself…
Georgia’s Government Says It Wants Transparency Over Foreign Influence. Protesters Think It Is Borrowing Russia’s Method of Silencing Critics.
For several nights this week, thousands of Georgians gathered outside parliament in Tbilisi carrying Georgian and European Union flags. Police responded with tear gas, water cannon and arrests as protesters attempted to prevent parliament from…
Two Trains Were Put on the Same Track. Calling That “Human Error” Does Not Explain Enough.
Late on Tuesday night, a passenger train travelling from Athens towards Thessaloniki collided head-on with a freight train near Tempi in central Greece. The passenger train was carrying around 350 people, many of them university…
Russia Does Not Need to Invade Moldova to Make Moldova Less Stable.
Moldova is not at war with Russia. Russian tanks are not advancing towards Chișinău, and Moldovan soldiers are not fighting Russian forces along the border. Yet the war in neighbouring Ukraine has increasingly made the…
Britain Has Its First British Asian Prime Minister. Representation Matters, but It Is Not the Same Thing as Equality.
Rishi Sunak became prime minister of the United Kingdom on Tuesday. The immediate political explanation is remarkably simple. Boris Johnson withdrew from the Conservative leadership contest, Penny Mordaunt failed to secure sufficient nominations from Conservative…
Liz Truss Lasted 44 Days. Britain May Be Politically Chaotic Without Being Institutionally Unstable.
Her premiership lasted 44 days, making it the shortest in British history. She entered office promising a fundamental change in economic policy based around lower taxation and faster growth. Her government’s mini-budget then triggered severe…
