World

As if the Russian political barometer hasn’t fallen low enough, news comes that it has yet to reach the bottom of the glass. Official symbolism is a reliable indicator of trends, and an announcement by Georgi Filimonov this week marks a new low. Filimonov, recently appointed as governor of Vologda province, plans to erect a life-sized statue of dictator Joseph Stalin in the provincial capital. Not to denounce him but to ‘commemorate’ him.  Probably, Putin always had an admiration for Stalin Decades have passed since Nikita Khrushchëv spread the word in the Soviet Union that Stalin was a despot and a mass killer. Mikhail Gorbachev and Boris Yeltsin expanded the

Yahya Sinwar died more like a mob hoodlum than the ruthless head of a paramilitary terrorist movement. He was caught scurrying for shelter between two safe houses, carrying a couple of fake IDs, a wad of large-denomination Israeli bills, guns and breath mints. The IDF troops who killed him didn’t even know who he was — just a bad guy. Sinwar’s demise, coming as it does after the elimination of nearly the entire Hezbollah leadership in Lebanon, is another severe blow to Iran. The Islamic Republic’s two deadliest proxies are now a bloody shambles. Its aura of strength in the Muslim world has been damaged. In Syria, too, Bashar al-Assad

In 2018 an event occurred that really deserved more attention. A military parade was being addressed by Nicolás Maduro in Caracas, Venezuela, and two small, explosive-laden drones exploded. The attack was unsuccessful (Maduro survived) but around ten people were injured. The use of targeted drones represented a new phase of terrorism. We are now a long way from the comparatively primitive efforts of 2018. While Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) have been a staple of militaries for decades (in fact the first attack using mechanical UAVs was at the Siege of Venice in 1849), the miniaturisation and improving technology available on the civilian market means that the threat from the small hobbyist drone is reaching new

The news that Labour is sending volunteers to assist Kamala Harris’s campaign is an outrage. In what world is it acceptable for a foreign political entity to interfere in the democratic process of a sovereign nation? If the Tories were shipping off their operatives to help Donald Trump, the shrieking harpies would be crying foul, calling election interference. But it favours Kamala Harris, suddenly, the lines of legality and ethics are blurred, if not outright erased.  I don’t like it, clearly, but in some ways it’s laughable Inarticulate, policy-challenged Kamala Harris has bumbled her way through high-stakes interviews, fumbled crucial debates, and remains woefully underqualified in foreign affairs. Her rise

Hermit kingdoms usually keep themselves to themselves, but now, North Korea is reinventing the moniker by which it has long been known. The country may have the world’s fourth largest military, numbering nearly 1.5 million – out of a population of 26 million – but when the first tanks invaded Ukraine on 24 February 2022, few observers would have anticipated North Korea’s actual involvement in the ensuing war. It is not only Ukrainian intelligence reports which, this week, raised the possibility that over 12,000 North Korean soldiers have been deployed to aid Russia’s war effort. Only a few hours ago, South Korea’s intelligence agency has confirmed this grim reality –

In just a few months we will mark the third anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The war has resulted in hundreds of thousands of casualties, and has left millions displaced. Ukraine’s infrastructure – in particular the energy infrastructure – is in shambles. The costs of recovery will likely be in the trillions of dollars. And still, there is no end in sight. As the war drags on, calls for negotiations are becoming louder. President Volodymyr Zelensky has been trumping up support for his Victory Plan. The details are unclear – presumably the ‘plan’ is to negotiate new military aid and viable security guarantees for Ukraine in return for the