World

Sunday

Mark Galeotti Mark Galeotti

The Soviet Union’s gerontocracy should serve as a warning to the US

One waspish – but not entirely inaccurate – Russian media assessment of the first US presidential debate was that it was ‘a reality show about the lives of pensioners.’ They ought to know, as Russia’s own history has highlighted the dangers of gerontocracy. When the Bolshevik revolutionaries who had just seized power formed their ruling Politburo in 1917, the only member who was more than 40 years old was their leader, Lenin, at 47. By 1981, the average age was 69. As for the actual leaders, General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev died at the age of 75 in 1982. His successor, Yuri Andropov, was a relative stripling, dying in 1984 at

Ian Williams Ian Williams

China’s Arctic ambitions should trouble the West

Four Chinese warships were spotted off the coast of Alaska last weekend. According to the US coast guard, the ships were in the Bering Sea around 124 miles from the Aleutian Islands. They were inside America’s exclusive economic zone, which extends to 200 miles, but within international waters. ‘We met presence with presence to ensure there were no disruptions to US interests,’ said a coastguard commander, as he monitored their progress. The Chinese were within their rights to be there, but the uneasy standoff was another example of Beijing boosting its presence around the Arctic. One of Russia’s leading Arctic scientists, was arrested and charged with treason This time they

Saturday

Katja Hoyer Katja Hoyer

Germany will regret cutting Ukraine aid

It wasn’t so long ago that the German chancellor Olaf Scholz tried to convince fellow European leaders to do more to help Ukraine. Wherever he travelled in the spring, the message was the same: Vladimir Putin will only withdraw Russian troops ‘if he realises that he cannot win the war on the battlefield,’ Scholz told European social democrats at a meeting in April. Now his coalition has decided to cut German military aid to Ukraine by half, Reuters reported, based on a draft of the 2025 budget. Next year, Europe’s largest economy intends to spend just €4 billion on supporting Kyiv against Russian aggression. Germany’s finance minister Christian Lindner suggested at a press conference that this

Kate Andrews Kate Andrews

Kate Andrews, Adam Frank, David Hempleman-Adams, Svitlana Morenets and Michael Beloff

40 min listen

On this week’s Spectator Out Loud: Kate Andrews argues vice-presidential nominee J.D. Vance is more MAGA than Trump (1:27); Adam Frank explains how super-earths could help us understand what life might look like on another planet (5:15); David Hempleman-Adams recounts his attempt to cross the Atlantic on a hydrogen ballon (14:31); from Ukraine, Svitlana Morenets reports on the battle to save Kharkiv (20:44); and, Michael Beloff takes us on a history of the Olympics (30:12).  Presented by Patrick Gibbons.  

Julie Burchill Julie Burchill

Joe Biden and the truth about old age

Observing the tremulous travails of Joe Biden, I reflected that we’re in two minds about old age. On one hand we pay stiff-upper-lip-service to the stoicism of old people; on the other they’re a warning about what awaits us. (I say ‘us’ out of habit; I got used to always being the youngest person in the room having won my dream job when I was just 17, but I turned 65 this month so I’m officially old.) Perhaps because I so thoroughly got what I wanted, I’m not sad to see the back of youth Not wanting to see the gory details of what we can expect, we (understandably) stash

Gavin Mortimer Gavin Mortimer

Will the Paris Olympics be the final nail in Macron’s coffin?

The mayor of Paris went for a swim in the Seine on Wednesday and emerged invigorated. The water, said Anne Hidalgo, was ‘soft and wonderful’. Hidalgo had initially scheduled a date last month for her dip but the quality of the water didn’t pass muster so she was forced to postpone her PR stunt – until nine days before Paris welcomes the XXXIII Olympiad. Violence has rocked Paris this week There are no reports that Hidalgo is now laid up in bed with a nasty bacterial infection, so one must presume the Seine will be able to host several swimming events in the coming weeks. That was the good news

Friday

Michael Evans

Will Trump defend Taiwan?

The prospect of a second Donald Trump administration has put the fear of God into America’s allies around the world. The biggest question being raised is: would the United States heave up the drawbridge and let others do the dirty work to keep the planet safe from global war? Comments made by Trump seem to suggest he still has no love for Nato, that Taiwan should fend for itself if attacked by mainland China, and that Ukraine should give up the territory it has lost to the Russian invaders in return for a ceasefire and forgo any ambition to join the western alliance. On the face of it, even if

Damian Thompson Damian Thompson

A Habsburg Archduke explains how not to be nasty on Twitter

25 min listen

In this week’s Holy Smoke episode Damian Thompson welcomes back Eduard Habsburg, Hungary’s Ambassador to the Holy See and also, to give him his family title, Archduke Eduard of Austria. Last year he published The Habsburg Way: 7 Rules for Turbulent Times, which offered advice on how to live a good life based on the panoramic history of his dynasty.  One reason it was such a success is that Eduard has a cult following on X, formerly Twitter, made up of people who initially followed him because he’s a Habsburg but stayed to absorb his spiritual wisdom and good cheer. In this episode, with Damian speaking as someone who frequently gets drawn into

Freddy Gray Freddy Gray

Donald Trump sounds sombre – and strange

Nobody can blame Donald Trump for a being a little reflective – given the events of the last few days. But his big speech in Milwaukee last night was, as his rather unkind critics were quick to point out, curiously ‘low-energy’. He was sombre and slow. He looked almost too sad to read out from the teleprompter. He at times seemed to struggle to hold back the tears.  Donald Trump can do funny and he can do angry. But sombre Donald Trump is a different man altogether Normally, at rallies, Trump revs up the crowd. This time the crowd tried again and again to rev him up. They laughed at

Amber Duke

Donald Trump accepts Republican nomination

Last night, former president Donald Trump accepted the Republican party’s nomination for president, and started his much-anticipated speech at the Republican National Convention by retelling the events of the attempt on his life at last Saturday’s rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. ‘I’ll tell you what happened, and you’ll never hear it from me a second time, because it’s too painful to tell’, he said. As Trump walked through the events that day, attendees cried and laughed. He praised the crowd in Pennsylvania for their courage and calm amid the bullets, saying the lack of a stampede ‘saved many lives.’ The famous image of Trump raising his fist as blood ran down the

Brendan O’Neill Brendan O’Neill

When did Trump supporters become fans of cancel culture?

A rock band’s tour cancelled after one of the band members made a tasteless joke. A working-class cashier sacked from her job at the behest of an online mob who were horrified by something she said on Facebook. A schoolteacher suspended after being dogpiled for a daft remark she made online. Has the left-wing digital mob been on the rampage again? Actually, no – this time it’s right-wingers who are furiously demanding the scalps of everyone who offends them. So this is what we have to look forward to if Trump ousts Biden? There has been a frenzy of cancellation in the wake of the attempted assassination of Donald Trump.

Thursday

Freddy Gray Freddy Gray

How much pressure is Biden under?

26 min listen

As more Democrats call for Joe Biden to pull out of the presidential race, Freddy Gray is joined by Damon Linker and Jacob Heilbrunn to discuss what could happen next. Who is influencing his decision and how transparent are top Democrats being with the public? They also discuss potential contenders to replace Biden, including Vice-President Kamala Harris; how well could they do against Trump? Produced by Patrick Gibbons and Natasha Feroze.

Matthew Lynn

Ursula von der Leyen only cares about power

The Green New Deal will be watered down. There will be a drive to roll back rules and regulations. And there will be far tougher control of the borders. The President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen secured the support of the bloc’s parliament today by promising a radical overhaul of the policies of the last four years. There is just one problem. This is the same leader who implemented all the policies she has just ditched.  Von der Leyen has been exposed as a politician who believes in nothing It is all changing in the EU. The Green New Deal, a Europop version of Bidenomics, is going

Katy Balls Katy Balls

Will Keir Starmer’s EU ‘reset’ pay off?

Keir Starmer is at Blenheim Palace today for the gathering of the European Political Community, the forum created by Emmanuel Macron in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. While the new Prime Minister met with many world leaders last week in Washington for the Nato summit, this is his first time he has played host since entering 10 Downing Street. As European leaders arrive, the Labour leader has been glad-handing his new counter parts. So far, we have seen a warm embrace for Hungary’s Viktor Orbán and the sparks of a bromance with a grinning Macron. The EU will want something in return for any removal of barriers

Ross Clark Ross Clark

Keir Starmer is deluding himself about the EU

‘We cannot let the challenges of the recent past define our relationships of the future,’ declared the Prime Minister ahead of today’s meeting of the European Political Union at Blenheim Palace. The meeting, he added, ‘will fire the starting gun on this government’s new approach to Europe’. The subtext to this is: the grown-ups are back in charge, and from now on we are going to have a far more constructive relationship with the EU. Keir Starmer has even promised a renegotiation of Britain’s trading relationship with the EU, which is supposedly going to make life easier for our exporters. Keir Starmer has even promised a renegotiation of Britain’s trading relationship

Freddy Gray Freddy Gray

Joe Biden has caught covid at the worst possible time

Talk about timing. Joe Biden has caught covid, the White House has announced. The president, who was touring Las Vegas, ‘is experiencing mild symptoms,’ press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement. ‘(Biden) will be returning to Delaware where he will self-isolate and will continue to carry out all of his duties fully during that time.’ Biden has been vaccinated and boosted against covid, Jean-Pierre added.  Will Donald Trump call Joe Biden to wish him well? In the 21 days since the now infamous debate with Donald Trump, Biden has kept a busy schedule. He has tried and largely failed to allay public concerns about his health. This latest news will not

Jacob Heilbrunn

Top Democrat Adam Schiff urges Joe Biden to quit

The blows keep coming. California congressman Adam Schiff, who was an impeachment manager during Donald Trump’s first Senate trial in 2020, is now targeting another president for destruction. Schiff has called upon Joe Biden to exit the presidential race, the twenty-third legislator to do so and definitely the most significant of the lot. Schiff, who is running for the Senate, was a protégé of former House speaker Nancy Pelosi. For several weeks, Pelosi, who knows that a continued Biden candidacy would likely lead to the downfall of the Democratic party this November, has been waging a quiet but determined campaign to persuade Biden to surrender. Not surprisingly, the Pelosi camp

Gavin Mortimer Gavin Mortimer

It’s obvious who to blame for the mess France is in

Marine Le Pen appeared on television on Wednesday morning in her first major interview since last Sunday’s election. The leader of the National Rally cast a critical eye over the chaos of the last week and described the cross-party squabbling as ‘parliamentary cretinism’. Even some within the New Popular Front, which won the most seats in the parliamentary elections, have expressed their despair. France has been afflicted by cretinous leadership for most of this century ‘I’m angry, I’m disgusted, I’m tired, I’m fed up,’ said Marine Tondelier, the head of the Greens. ‘I’m sorry about the performance we’re putting on for the French people.’ Sandrine Rousseau, another Green MP, apologised

Matthew Parris Matthew Parris

Could Ukrainians ever trust a Putin peace deal?

Last week at the Buxton International Festival I joined a big audience for an onstage interview with Anna Reid. She’s a writer who specialises in Eastern European history, was once the Economist magazine’s correspondent in Ukraine, and made her name with a brilliant book, Borderland, which was both a portrait, a history and an appreciation of that country long before it entered the western public consciousness. It’s still worth reading today. But at Buxton she was introducing her latest book, A Nasty Little War: the Western Intervention into the Russian Civil War, which opened the eyes of many in the audience (including me) to an almost forgotten but serious and

Lionel Shriver Lionel Shriver

The cognitive dissonance of the Democrats

Believe it or not, I planned to write the gist of this column before Saturday night. However, a caveat. Unlike the newly christened Republican VP pick, J.D. Vance, I don’t directly blame hyperventilating Democratic rhetoric for last weekend’s attempt on Trump’s life. Responsibility rests with the would-be assassin. Nevertheless, the party’s off-the-charts argumentation has rankled me for the past year. From the get-go, Biden has framed his campaign as a defence of ‘our democracy’, echoing Britons’ sacred obligation to lock themselves in their cupboards to save ‘our NHS’. For Democrats, what’s at stake in this election is nothing less than the perpetuation of America’s form of government. Donald Trump’s threat