Character, not ideology, is the key to understanding this remarkable politician. Read on »

There has never been a more popular time to be anti-American. From Beijing to Berlin, from Sydney to São Paulo, America’s detractors have become legion. But not everyone has chosen to get on the anti-American bandwagon. Where–and among whom–is America still admired, and why? Meet the pro-Americans. Read on »

For most people, the very words “United Nations” have something solid about them. Perhaps they conjure up an august phrase, such as “international community”, or a solemn symbol, such as the blue UN seal. Read on »

It was an institution I’d never heard of – the Foundation for Peace and Co-operation – but the invitation to speak there came from someone at the American embassy, the name sounded anodyne enough, and I thought the audience, teachers from provincial Russia, in Moscow for a five-day course on “civic education”, might prove interesting. Read on »

I was in Britain in the summer of 2002 when Europeans first got wind of the American plan to invade Iraq. Read on »

He isn’t your typical political prisoner: Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who goes on trial next week with his business partner, Platon Lebedev, is by some accounts worth $8 billion. Read on »

A few years back, a book with the provocative title Hitler’s Willing Executioners became a surprising best-seller in the US. Read on »

Before the election, the government mobilised groups of thugs to harass voters. On the day of the election, police prevented thousands of opposition activists from voting at all. Read on »

“He’s rolling the dice,” a diplomat said to me last week, speaking of the Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharon. Read on »

Who is Vladimir Putin? To begin with, quite a lot of people thought they knew. Read on »