We must be ready to endure modest hardships while Ukrainians answer the questions we’ve never been asked. — On a tiny island situated in the Black Sea, a small contingent of Ukrainian troops are contacted by a Russian frigate. “This is a Russian military warship,” its commander says. “I suggest you lay down your weapons and surrender to avoid bloodshed and needless casualties. Otherwise, you will be bombed.”

Naivety and a failure to learn lessons following the Russian invasion of Crimea in 2014 characterise Europe’s feeble position on Ukraine — Recently, I suggested that Russian aggression towards Ukraine was motivated by the Kremlin’s inability to tolerate democratic states and free peoples at its border, with other explanations for Russia’s attitude either insufficient or fabrications of the Russian regime itself.

Despite president Putin’s projections of strength, a free and independent Ukraine is an intolerable anxiety for his paranoid kleptocracy — Recently, during a workplace lunch break, a colleague of mine asked: “What exactly is it that Putin wants? What’s Ukraine worth?” Often simple questions are the most incisive. Of course, to those who consider Ukraine home, it is worth a great deal, so much so that volunteers are swelling its…

With no shortages of genuine crises, the latest Downing Street party controversy is just another unfortunate distraction — For some months, this writer held to the naive hope that the coronavirus pandemic might focus minds. Trivial, post-capitalist divisions — invariably fueled by identity politics — could finally be exposed as fatuous, while received wisdom on issues like globalisation, open borders, state intervention, and the role of business might…

In the face of an expansionist China it is appeasement, not deterrence, that risks the outbreak of war — Following the West’s disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan last month, the US has faced accusations it is no longer a dependable ally and, worse still, no longer a global defender of democracy. …

America must regain confidence if it’s to recover from the embarrassment of its Afghanistan exit — Afghanistan has often been seen through the categories of state-building, counter-terrorism, economic development, and counter-insurgency. However, in truth, these are all the same thing. You cannot build a state with the Taliban and you cannot defeat the Taliban without a state. There cannot be security without development or development without…

How the prime minister believes being loved and leading are the same thing — The Italian philosopher and diplomat Niccolò Machiavelli believed that a ruler would do better to be feared than loved. His reasoning was that subjects choose what they love, but rulers decide if they fear him. Boris Johnson, more than any prime minister in recent history, wants to be loved. His…

A year on from his securing the Labour leadership, Starmer is faced with the enormity of a task that will outlast him — For those Labour MPs who over five years had seen their party hijacked by Jeremy Corbyn and his ideological enforcers, there must have been a great deal of optimism on the afternoon of Wednesday the 22 April, 2020. Sir Keir Stamer had just finished his first PMQs, producing a fine…

How an unconventional route into the profession resulted in heretical views on the current state of journalism — During an hour or so I recently sunk into consecutive Youtube videos, I saw an interview with the musician/actor Steve Van Zandt, sometimes known as ‘Little Steven.’ Fans of Bruce Springsteen may know Van Zandt as the guitarist in the incomparable E Street Band. …