The news is in: the next U.S president will be a moderate. Why? Because whoever is elected in November, the Democrats look set to increase their share of congressional seats and may even win enough seats in the Senate to overcome Republican attempts to block legislation. Currently, Democrats have a 51-seat majority in the 100-member
In a recent conversation with a Cameroon about the Tory Leader’s foreign policy overtures, I was alerted to William Hague’s July speech at the Institute for Strategic Studies during which the Shadow Foreign Secretary said the world faces a “new age of insecurity” unless the brakes are put on nuclear proliferation. In many ways, his
The streets around my house have now been cleaned, shops have opened again and any trace of the colour-packed, music-filled event that is the Notting Hill Carnival has disappeared. The event was a success. Towards the end, police did fight a battle with about 40 youths and ended up arresting 330 people – up from
So it’s all America’s fault, heh, Mr Putin? The Russian-Georgian War as a “wag-the-dog” kind of operation aimed at making John McCain the next US president. Sure. And what about that Third Tower, Mr. Prime Minister? Mr Putin’s unhinged, Oliver Stone-like conspiracy reminds me of Nikita Khrushchev’s refusal to believe, when he visiting the U.S
With French President Sarkozy having called an emergency EU summit to discuss Georgia, Europe’s finest diplomatic minds are now trying to decide what the leaders should actually talk about when they meet. In the run-up to Russia’s invasion of Georgia, the EU sought to avoid the issue altogether. Much has been made of the diplomatic
In the U.S, after a slow start by a media suffering from post-9/11 stress, a great debate about Iraq is going on. Every administration initiative is evaluated, wonks have made careers out of tracking Iraq policy and the press are full of analysis. The future of Iraq’s leader is a source of constant editorialising. Every month,
So Britain’s soldiers, risking life and limb, fighting in the treacherous Hindu Kush, defending our freedoms and the safety of ordinary Afghans are like our Olympics athletes? Heh? That’s what the Prime Minister seems to think. On his visit to Helmand, Gordon Brown said that British soldiers “have showed exactly the same courage, professionalism and
In Hollywood, there is an award called the Golden Raspberry or Razzies. The opposite of the much-desired Oscar, the Razzies go to those who have most dishonoured the acting, screenwriting or song-writing profession in the past year. If European foreign policy had a version of the Razzies, this year’s award would go to Greece for
Normally foreign policy is the refuge of poll-losing leaders, who have tired of the slow pace of domestic reform and launch themselves unto the international stage in the hope of a restoration. Even if electoral rehabilitation is unlikely, the Club of Leaders is a more collegial place than the domestic political scene. Think Bill Clinton
The Conservatives have been rightly looking to Sweden for ideas on education policy, now they should be looking a little further south, to Denmark, for inspiration on tax policy. In Denmark, a centre-right government has been in power for eight years and, despite technically being in a recession, the country’s thoroughly modern market economy and
Pakistan’s government had vowed to start impeachment proceedings against President Pervez Musharraf. A session of the National Assembly, Pakistan’s lower house of parliament, had been scheduled for today to initiate the proceedings. However, Musharraf pre-empted the move by announcing his resignation. Since the election, which saw the return to power of two Musharraf’s foes –
It is common knowledge that John McCain and David Cameron get on. By convention, politicians do not enter into electoral politics in other countries, but the Conservative leader has made clear how McCain impressed him when he spoke at the 2006 Conservative Party Conference while McCain has described Cameron as a Kennedyesque figure. Their staffs
European Union countries keep half a million more men and women under arms than the United States. But 70 percent of these troops cannot operate outside of their national borders and only 6,000 of them—0.3 percent of the total—are currently deployed on European Security and Defence Policy operations. The problem, as my colleague at the
With the Conservatives ahead in the polls, David Cameron must be using the summer break thinking of whom to place around the Cabinet table. But he would do well to also think of what ministerial portfolios should exist at all. Prime Ministers have the greatest leeway to reshape the government’s machinery upon taking office. Then
