Leadership
India and Pakistan Face New Crisis After Kashmir Attack
India and Pakistan are again facing a dangerous deterioration in relations after a major militant attack in Jammu and Kashmir triggered accusations, military alerts and increasingly confrontational rhetoric across the border. New Delhi has linked…
US and Iran Reach Ceasefire Deal After Seven Weeks of War
After seven weeks of war, the United States and Iran have finally reached a ceasefire framework. The agreement follows the failed Islamabad negotiations last weekend and several days of intense mediation involving Pakistan, Oman, Qatar…
Iran War Enters Fifth Week as Washington Searches for an Exit
The war with Iran is entering its fifth week, and the political problem is beginning to look more difficult than the military one. The United States and Israel have inflicted enormous damage on Iranian missile…
Iran War Expands as Khamenei’s Son Mojtaba Is Chosen as Supreme Leader
Iran has selected Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of the late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, as the country’s new supreme leader while the war with the United States and Israel continues. The succession is extraordinary not…
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…
US Forces Capture Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela Raid
The United States has crossed a threshold in Latin America that would have seemed almost unimaginable a year ago. On 3 January, American special forces entered Caracas in Operation Absolute Resolve, captured Venezuelan leader Nicolás…
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…
Trump Gave Putin a Red-Carpet Welcome in Alaska. There Is Still No Ceasefire. The Summit Has Changed Who Is Being Pressured to Compromise.
Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin met in Alaska on Friday for nearly three hours in the first US-Russia presidential summit since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The symbolism was extraordinary.
Trump’s Tariffs Are Becoming Permanent. The World Is Not Returning to the Old Free-Trade System.
Donald Trump’s tariff experiment is beginning to look less like a temporary negotiating tactic and more like the foundation of a new American trade system. On 31 July, Trump signed an executive order setting revised…
NATO Has Agreed to Spend Far More on Defence. Trump Will Call It a Victory. Europe Should Ask Why It Took Doubting America to Make Europe Invest Seriously in Itself.
The NATO summit in The Hague has formalised one of the largest changes in Western defence policy since the end of the Cold War. Alliance members have committed themselves to a new target under which…
Israel and Iran Have Stopped Fighting. Trump Says the Nuclear Programme Was Destroyed. But a Ceasefire Is Not the Same Thing as Solving the Nuclear Problem.
The direct war between Israel and Iran has, for now, ended almost as suddenly as it began. After twelve days of Israeli strikes, Iranian missile attacks and the unprecedented American bombing of Fordow, Natanz and…
Israel Has Attacked Iran’s Nuclear Programme. Iran Is Firing Ballistic Missiles Back. This Is What Happens When One Country Believes Waiting for Deterrence to Work Is More Dangerous Than Starting a War to Prevent It.
The shadow war between Israel and Iran has become an open interstate war. On 13 June, Israel launched a large-scale series of strikes across Iran, targeting nuclear facilities, missile infrastructure, air defences and senior military…
