Diplomacy
US and Israel Launch New War on Iran as Khamenei Is Killed
The Middle East has entered a far more dangerous phase. On 28 February, the United States and Israel launched a large joint military campaign against Iran, striking leadership compounds, missile forces, air defences and military…
Munich Security Conference Exposes a Transatlantic Alliance Being Rewritten
This year’s Munich Security Conference felt noticeably different from the confrontation that dominated the same meeting twelve months ago. In 2025, US Vice-President JD Vance shocked European leaders by arguing that Europe’s greatest threat came…
Trump Drops Greenland Tariff Threat After NATO Talks in Davos
Donald Trump has stepped back from one of the most extraordinary disputes of his second presidency. After repeatedly insisting that the United States needed to acquire Greenland, refusing initially to rule out coercive measures and…
Iran Protests Spread as Currency Collapse Turns Into a Crisis of Political Legitimacy
Iran has entered 2026 facing another serious wave of anti-government protests, but this one began somewhere politically significant: Tehran’s Grand Bazaar. Shopkeepers began closing businesses and demonstrating in late December after the Iranian rial collapsed…
Israel Becomes First Country to Recognise Somaliland as Independent State
Israel has become the first country in the world formally to recognise Somaliland as an independent sovereign state, breaking a diplomatic isolation that has lasted more than three decades. Somaliland declared independence from Somalia in…
Trump and Zelenskyy Say Ukraine Peace Deal Is Close but Territory Remains Unresolved
Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy have ended another round of talks at Mar-a-Lago saying that a framework for ending the Russia-Ukraine war is closer than at any previous point in Trump’s second presidency. Trump said…
EU Agrees €90 Billion Ukraine Loan but Stops Short of Seizing Russian Assets
European leaders have agreed to provide Ukraine with a €90 billion loan for 2026 and 2027, giving Kyiv a crucial financial lifeline as Russia’s war approaches its fifth year. The agreement reached at this week’s…
G20 Summit in Johannesburg Exposes a Growing Split Over the Global Economic Order
The G20 summit in Johannesburg this weekend was supposed to demonstrate the growing influence of the Global South in international economic governance. It was the first G20 leaders’ summit held on African soil, hosted by…
US Government Shutdown Nears an End After Record 40-Day Standoff
The longest federal government shutdown in American history appears finally to be approaching an end. After 40 days without normal government funding, a group of Senate Democrats has joined Republicans behind a compromise that would…
Trump and Xi Reach One-Year Trade Truce After South Korea Summit
Donald Trump and Xi Jinping met in Busan, South Korea, on 30 October, producing the most significant easing of the US-China trade confrontation since Trump’s return to office. The two governments have agreed to step…
Japan Has Chosen Sanae Takaichi to Lead Its Governing Party. If She Becomes Prime Minister, Japan Will Have Its First Female Leader and One of Its Most Conservative Governments in Years. Why a Country Defined for Decades by Pacifism Is Becoming Much More Comfortable With Power.
Japan is entering a potentially historic political transition. Sanae Takaichi has won the leadership of the governing Liberal Democratic Party, placing her in position to become Japan’s first female prime minister and giving the country…
Britain, Canada, Australia and Others Are Preparing to Recognise Palestine. Recognition Matters, but a State Cannot Survive on Diplomatic Recognition Alone.
The international diplomatic balance around Palestinian statehood is undergoing one of its largest changes in decades. Ahead of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, several Western governments have moved towards formally recognising the…
