Commentary
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Europe or Russia? For Georgians, the choice isn’t so simple
Hezbollah’s fatal miscalculations
Lebanon could well turn into a quagmire for Israel, and its belief that it can achieve “total victory” is premature. However, there can be no doubt that Iran and Hezbollah are on the back foot.
Netanyahu’s high-stakes gamble against Iran
Nasrallah’s violent end hasn’t just led to Israeli euphoria — it’s also emboldened the prime minister to think in grand terms of recasting a Middle East that’s more favorable to Israel.
What a Trump victory would really mean for Europe
A win for the former president would surely further galvanize the bloc’s populist parties and encourage their normalization — much as it did in the US.
EU betting on India and Vietnam for chips
Looking to be less dependent on China and Taiwan, the West is keen to have alternative suppliers and are pushing at an open door with New Delhi and Hanoi.
Israel’s message to Hezbollah is falling on deaf ears
What was meant to preempt escalation into a full-blown war is having quite the opposite effect, despite both sides knowing full well that another war would make the conflict of 2006 look like a skirmish.
Are we asking enough hard questions about Ukraine?
When the dust settles, will the West’s media coverage get a passing grade, or will we find, at times, we allowed our sympathy for the Ukrainian cause to overlook matters we shouldn’t?
The Red Sea: Time for India’s Modi to step in
Nothing the West says or does will convince the Houthis to halt their campaign. But the Indian prime minister is perfectly suited to the task.
As Biden deliberates, Ukraine’s nuclear plants are increasingly at risk
The risk of Ukraine losing the war this winter has pushed Washington and London to reconsider how Kyiv uses Western-supplied long-range missiles, but the U.S. remains fearful of escalation.
Zelenskyy’s power grab is bad for Ukraine
The war has done nothing to still the president’s populist impatience with the complexities of governing, and it’s playing against the country’s strengths.
Le Pen’s dilemma: Tolerate Barnier or unleash the dogs
To survive, Barnier will need to be dogged and pragmatic — just as he showed himself to be in the Brexit negotiations.
Radical left and radical right have become indistinguishable
For as long as the center fails to make its case in a way that galvanizes, there will be many more like Sahra Wagenknecht.
Secretive Draghi is echoing Soviet Union restructuring
Like Gorbachev’s Perestroika, the report from the former ECB chief could herald a change of historic proportions. It’s far less innocuous than it sounds.
The drift toward unfreedom
Pavel Durov’s arrest and indictment is likely the opening shot in what will be a prolonged legal and political struggle, the consequences of which will reshape the balance of power between states and individuals.
Meloni will continue to play to the center — for now
The Italian leader isn’t too eager to hang her hat with the Euroskeptic far right — at least not just yet.
Photography’s eternal present at Arles
This year’s Les Rencontres d’Arles photography festival pays homage to female artists amid a dystopian squint, highlighting overlooked worlds.
Talk of peace deals in the Levant, Ukraine is for the birds
Exhaustion and want — the two key ingredients for successful peace talks — are as absent in Kyiv as they are in the Middle East.
How to rein in Russia’s shadow fleet
The countries buying oil transported by these dark vessels could be more receptive to nudges, as they, too, face significant risks.
The US divide on foreign policy
This gap between Democrats and Republicans on foreign policy — and America’s role in the world — is one that’s been steadily evolving over the past decade. And it’s a shift that reflects a fundamental change in the Republican Party.
Putin is paralyzed in crisis – again
As Ukraine awaits a response to its Kursk invasion, the Russian leader is once again demonstrating he has an adversity problem.
Ukraine’s raid into Russia has shifted the tactical narrative
Kursk has indeed turned the tables on Russia, but it’s also highly questionable whether it has shifted the grim dynamics of the conflict.
Will Biden be the last Zionist US president?
More attuned to the Democratic Party’s progressive wing, Harris’s position is, if anything, more reflective of a changing America.
In the hydrogen battlefield, Europe tries to stay ahead of China
Terrified Beijing may come to dominate yet another clean tech market, the EU aims to impose regulations — and is looking to Japan for help.
Orbán isn’t as isolated as you think
The Hungarian leader has been able to build a coalition of like-minded allies who share his strategic goal — creating “a Europe of nation states.”
Today’s Russia-West prisoner swaps are not like the Cold War
With ordinary citizens being picked up simply to be used as exchange fodder, no Westerner is truly safe in hostile countries anymore.
Budget will be key to Barnier’s survival