February 23rd, 2003
This weekend, Colin Powell, the American Secretary of State, is not in Israel or in Jordan, preparing for imminent war with Iraq. He is not in Europe, mollifying allies. Instead, he is in Japan and South Korea, quietly dealing with the other weapons-of-mass-destruction crisis, the one we have heard much less about. Read on »
September 22nd, 2002
Living on islands, the British find it very difficult to understand the permanent identity crisis experienced by the Russians. Read on »
September 8th, 2002
A few days ago, I negotiated a service contract for the boiler in my new house in Washington DC. At the end of a long telephone exchange, I had to make a decision: did I want a fixed oil price, or a variable one? The variable price was lower. Nevertheless, I preferred the fixed price. Read on »
August 4th, 2002
Not one, not two, but three articles quoting from “secret” plans to invade Iraq have appeared on the front page of the New York Times in the past month. One version of events calls for 250,000 US troops to attack Iraq from three sides. Read on »
May 26th, 2002
As I write this, I have before me the “Founding Act on Mutual Relations, Cooperation and Security Between Nato and the Russian Federation”, and a very optimistic document it is too. Read on »
May 12th, 2002
Cherie Blair is in big trouble. The Prime Minister’s wife has chaired a series of supposedly important seminars in Downing Street, thereby bringing the wrath of the British press down upon her head. Read on »
May 5th, 2002
London — Some years ago, a French friend of mine predicted the rise of Jean-Marie Le Pen, the man who is today challenging Jacques Chirac in the second round of France’s presidential elections. Read on »
March 31st, 2002
Several years ago, I happened to be in Israel on the eve of an election. In that particular campaign, Ariel Sharon was not a candidate. Not only was he not a candidate, in fact, he appeared to be terminally out of fashion. Read on »
March 23rd, 2002
In elections held last September, the people of Poland chose a man named Leszek Miller to be their prime minister. After this happened, I sat back and waited for the reaction in Western Europe. I waited, and I waited. Nothing happened. Read on »
January 26th, 2002
By any standard, historical or moral, the treatment of al Qaeda and Taliban prisoners in Guantanamo Bay has been outstanding, even exemplary. Why, then, have European and international airwaves been ringing this week with howls of condemnation? Read on »