United States
The art of the bad deal
How could the US have released Viktor Bout?
The curious cult of the friend of fascism
Ayn Rand’s vile philosophy was one of the crudest ever to be taken seriously, but attracts the devotion of fundamentalists for whom she could do no wrong
Are U.S. sports actually superior to ours?
Sport is another thing to confirm the notion of American exceptionalism
Prohibition by other means
Do rising alcohol prices indicate the good times really are over — or could they harbour our freedom?
The rise and fall of the China Question
Balance China realistically: let her overstretch and bleed
In America we trust
The best and worst of America’s civil religion displayed in the wake of 9/11
90 minutes a slave
Are re-enactments of the Underground Railroad culturally insensitive — or a tool to help America understand its history?
Reining in the police: Action or cop-out?
The aftermath of George Floyd’s death is a Me Too moment for race relations and the law enforcement agencies
Return of the dragon
China’s Covid belligerence will only isolate it further
The man who exposed the watchers
David J. Garrow reviews Dark Mirror: Edward Snowden and the Surveillance State, by Barton Gellman
NatCon lives on
The conference has gone ahead in Brussels despite protests and police action
Fifth magician blues
He made the tea, he forged the autographs, and only once did he run out of plectrums
Ukraine cannot avoid partition
Ukraine must not capitulate and demilitarise, but de-facto partition is now an inevitability
The hidden cost of pronoun politeness
Using untruthful pronouns is not the same as complimenting a bad haircut
The meaning of Navalny’s death
This tragic event illustrates the cruelty and fragility of the Kremlin
A monumental work on British buildings
Gavin Stamp’s posthumous book is a magnificent tour d’horizon, a bible of the styles available to architects between the wars
How to lose an empire
The rise and fall of the Sassoon family, whose yearning for social acceptance brought titles at the cost of success
The sacred and the profane
Allowing a “Rave in the Nave” in Canterbury Cathedral was a regrettable error of judgement
Giving noticing a bad name
Observing factual differences is not the same as leaping to conclusions
Taking on the right-on with cold, hard facts
A practical manual for anyone who has no choice but to sit on committees with idealistic intellectuals
Of course women support women
Men are angry about where women’s money is going? What’s new?
