Ukraine and other former Soviet republics are celebrating 30 years of independence, but their place in the world still has elements of uncertainty.
Category: War and peace
Death of a tyrant
The death this week of a brutal twentieth-century dictator reminds us of how routine his crimes used to appear.
Debating Taiwan
There's an interesting and important debate over the Chinese government's intentions towards Taiwan, and it's unlikely to be resolved any time soon.
Full circle in Kabul
The Taliban reconquers Afghanistan, leaving 40 years of American policy in ruins. Could things have been done differently?
Death of a war criminal
Donald Rumsfeld, architect of invasion and torture, dies peacefully and unmolested. The results of his work live on.
An election and an “election”
Armenia's prime minister puts his job on the line in an early election. Meanwhile, Iran's rulers look like securing a hard-line president and possible successor for the supreme leader.
Assad wins again!
After ten years of civil war, Syria holds what could only generously be described as an election, with predictable results.
May electoral roundup
A regular feature. This month, electoral news from Samoa, Ethiopia, Chad and Bulgaria.
Too many elections, or not enough
Negotiations in Israel are centred on the possibility of avoiding a fifth straight election. But the Palestinians have the opposite problem.
Bonaparte, 200 years on
Two hundred years on from the death of Napoleon, his legacy has never ceased to be a live political question in France. Emmanuel Macron is the latest to try to deal with it.
The World is Not Enough 