The Washington Post Column

“In some countries, children are being taken from their families if these families refuse to propagate homosexuality. No, not in Russia — in Europe.” — Russian television

Quite a few Europeans woke up Tuesday morning to sunshine (the weather is finally good here) and some cheerful news: The Trump administration would not, in fact, be slapping steel and aluminum tariffs on the continent, and the European Union would not, in fact, be responding with tariffs of its own. Even the night before, …

In Trump’s White House, foreign policy is now made on a whim Read More »

“When I saw the masses of East German citizens there, I knew they were in the right.” A quarter-century later, that was how Lt. Col. Harald Jäger explained his decision to open the gates and let his fellow citizens through the Berlin Wall. Jäger was guarding a border checkpoint on Nov. 9, 1989, in the …

People power worked in Armenia. It won’t work everywhere. Read More »

After 15 months in the White House, it has become clear there is no correct way for American allies to deal with President Donald Trump. And pretty much every tactic has been tried.

“I hope that one day we’d be able to return to a country we recognize.” For the first time since she was murdered by a car bomb six months ago, members of Daphne Caruana Galizia’s family have spoken publicly about the circumstances that led to her death. Caruana Galizia was a Maltese journalist who wrote …

There are many ways for democracy to fail Read More »

In the aftermath of the latest suspected chemical attack in Syria, the Russian government borrowed a tactic from President Trump. First, it denied the evidence: “False information is being planted about the alleged use of chlorine and other toxic agents by the Syrian government forces.” Then, it gave the allegations a familiar label: “fake news.”

In retrospect, the Snowden affair looks almost quaint. In 2013, the National Security Agency was accused of monitoring the metadata of Americans — telephone logs, for example — in search of patterns that would help identify terrorists. And — just imagine! — that was a major scandal.

At long last, people have stopped asking “Is it really happening?” or “Does it really work?” or “Does it even matter?” Facebook has acknowledged the existence of Russian disinformation on its platform and has finally banned sites created by the Internet Research Agency, the Russian institution dedicated to covert online propaganda. Twitter has removed automated …

It’s not just Russia anymore Read More »

In the weeks after the 2016 election, European media, and especially British media, were desperate to find someone who could speak for Donald Trump. The transition team in Washington seemed to have no European links or contacts. The embassies knew nothing.

In the end, Britain was not isolated. At least 28 countries have now agreed to expel nearly 150 Russian diplomats, in a coordinated response to Russia’s use of a military-grade chemical weapon in an assassination attempt in Salisbury, a provincial English town. Even as the Russian government continues to throw out dozens of counter-explanations for …

Ominous cracks show in the West’s united front against Russia Read More »