The far right thrived in 2024, and the erosion of liberal democracy is the story of the century so far. It didn’t have to be this way By Cas Muddle
Want to imagine the city of the future? Try Milton Keynes Jen Stout
The Republican candidate has already damaged American democracy and the wider liberal order. Worse is to come by Francis Fukuyama\
My friendship with a robin works magic on my health
Understanding—and Preparing for—a New Era of Comprehensive Conflict
By Mara Karlin
Managing Risk in the Face of Escalation
Looking back at 7th October and the start of the Gaza war, a Palestinian writer reflects on a year of horror and trauma
Local authorities and the police are facing a globally organised far right they barely understand By Paul Mason
“I think the protests are great,” the far-right influencer James Goddard told subscribers to his Telegram channel, in a video the day after the Sunderland riot. “But we need to clean up the optics… Number one, please stay away from religious buildings, places of worship, mosques, Islamic centres. Just stay away from them. You’re going to cause a conflict that we don’t need to have… yet.”
The oldest constitution in the world was not made for the political culture of modern America. The Supreme Court’s decision in Trump v United States is a symptom of its crisis
Standing in a huge crowd of counter-protesters, I’m more aware than ever that racist violence is part of a structural problem and an inevitable extension of mainstream Islamophobia
The World Still Needs America—and America Still Needs the World by Condoleezza Rice
And They’re Already Here by Mark A. Milley and Eric Schmidt
The UK isn’t the global power that it was in 1997. But if the new government makes smart choices, we might still avoid drifting into irrelevance
For months we had been complaining about the damage the Games would inevitably bring to our city
Biden and the Search for a New American Strategy
“America is back.” In the early days of his presidency, Joe Biden repeated those words as a starting point for his foreign policy. The phrase offered a bumper-sticker slogan to pivot away from Donald Trump’s chaotic leadership. It also suggested that the United States could reclaim its self-conception as a virtuous hegemon, that it could make the rules-based international order great again. Yet even though a return to competent normalcy was in order, the Biden administration’s mindset of restoration has occasionally struggled against the currents of our disordered times. An updated conception of U.S. leadership—one tailored
Making the Case for Trump’s Foreign Policy
Si vis pacem, para bellum is a Latin phrase that emerged in the fourth century that means “If you want peace, prepare for war.” The concept’s origin dates back even further, to the second-century Roman emperor Hadrian, to whom is attributed the axiom, “Peace through strength—or, failing that, peace through threat.”
And China Is Reaping the Benefits
And What America Should Learn From It
By now, Chinese President Xi Jinping’s ambition to remake the world is undeniable. He wants to dissolve Washington’s network of alliances and purge what he dismisses as “Western” values from international bodies. He wants to knock the U.S. dollar off its pedestal and eliminate Washington’s chokehold over critical technology. In his new multipolar order, global institutions and norms will be underpinned by Chinese notions of common security and economic development, Chinese values of state-determined political rights, and Chinese technology. China will no longer have to fight for leadership. Its centrality will be guaranteed.
America’s Competition With China Must Be Won, Not Managed
We do not choose where we are born. That creates rights—and obligations—that we should all seek to honour
Conflict, human rights abuses and climate change have led to a doubling of the global refugee population in the last seven years, and yet the response of many wealthy countries has become increasingly insular and myopic. Constant demands to slash international aid, along with punitive immigration policies and hateful rhetoric, mark a shift away from humanitarian values. The UK’s Rwanda scheme epitomises this trend: it would normalise the mass deportation of asylum seekers and undermine prohibitions on returning refugees to dangerous countries. At the same time, citizens of wealthy countries appear increasingly indifferent to the plight of those who perish in the Mediterranean or along other perilous routes.
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