Ethics and Political Philosophy
Austria Is Planning to Make COVID Vaccination Compulsory. How Much Choice Do We Give Up to Protect Everyone Else?
That is an extraordinary escalation in government power over an individual’s medical decision, and it deserves a more serious argument than either “vaccines work, so obviously everyone should be forced to take them” or “my…
More Than 200 People Died in Beirut. A Year Later, Lebanon Is Fighting Over Whether Anyone Can Be Held Responsible.
Approximately 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate had been stored for years at the city’s port. When it exploded, more than 200 people were killed, thousands were injured and entire neighbourhoods were devastated. The images were…
The Pandora Papers Reveal Something Bigger Than Tax Avoidance
More than 11.9 million confidential records from 14 companies providing offshore financial services have been examined by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists and hundreds of journalists around the world. The investigation involves financial structures…
America Says Alliances Are Back. France Just Recalled Its Ambassador.
After four years in which Donald Trump repeatedly criticised NATO allies, questioned multilateral institutions and approached international relationships in unusually transactional terms, Biden has tried to present himself as almost the opposite. America would consult…
Five Provincial Capitals in Three Days. Afghanistan Is Starting to Look Very Different.
Last Sunday, I wrote that the Taliban was beginning to test whether Afghanistan’s government could defend major cities without large numbers of foreign troops. Seven days later, that test is already producing answers. And they…
America Is Leaving Afghanistan. The Taliban Isn’t Waiting.
In April, when President Biden announced that American troops would leave Afghanistan, I wrote that there would probably never be a perfect moment to withdraw. I still think that. But four months later, watching what…
Haiti’s President Was Assassinated. Who Governs the Country Now?
Since then, Haitian authorities have arrested a number of suspects, including former Colombian soldiers, while several others were killed by police. Investigators are still trying to determine who organised the operation and why. Those questions…
You Don’t Have to Trust Someone to Talk to Them
After several hours, the two presidents emerged separately, held separate press conferences and acknowledged that they continued to disagree about almost everything that brought them there in the first place. Strangely, I think that may…
India’s Second Wave Is Becoming a Political Crisis
On Wednesday, India reported 382,315 new COVID-19 cases and 3,780 deaths in just twenty-four hours. The World Health Organization reported that India accounted for almost half of the COVID-19 cases recorded globally in the previous…
When Leadership Becomes a Responsibility
For months, COVID-19 statistics have almost become ordinary. Every morning there are new cases, new deaths and new restrictions. But this week in India, the numbers stopped feeling like numbers. Hospitals are struggling for beds.
Diplomacy in Suspension: Negotiation Without Trust and Power Without Resolution
This week’s international developments reveal a global order increasingly defined by suspended outcomes. Diplomacy persists, negotiations resume, alliances deepen, and crises are managed, yet rarely resolved. I observe that states are engaging not to close…
Diplomacy at the Fault Lines: Elections, Alliances, and Strategic Signalling
This week, international developments reflect a recurring pattern in contemporary global politics: diplomacy increasingly functions less as conflict resolution and more as risk management. Across regions, states engage not to settle disputes conclusively but to…
