The Black Sea Grain Crisis

On 22 July, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, declared that he was relieved. It seemed as though a global food crisis in the making, and mass famine, could be averted. 

In Tunisia, a Day of Reckoning Awaits

By James Snell and Lydia Wilson

The past year has seen Tunisia — long heralded as the single success story of the Arab Spring — edge toward dictatorship. It is feared that the results of the looming referendum on July 25 will be the final nail in the coffin of the country’s democracy, a fragile system that has nevertheless endured in the 11-plus years since Mohamed Bouazizi, a market trader, set himself on fire and sparked protests that spread across the region.

Read the rest of this essay by Lydia Wilson and an extended interview with Rached Ghannouchi at New Lines Magazine.

Shinzo Abe

Shinzo Abe, who was assassinated today while electioneering, was his country’s indispensable man. Prime minister of Japan for much of this century, from 2006 to 2007 and 2012 to 2020, Abe’s stature on the world stage eclipsed that of other post-war Japanese leaders, just as his time in office surpassed them all.

Britain Needs Armed Forces Fit to Fight Real Wars

British forces aren’t engaged in Ukraine. The country’s contribution to arming and training Ukrainian forces isn’t the largest either. And British aid doesn’t sustain Ukraine’s economy like that provided by its neighbors.

Westminster’s Least Well-Kept Secret

You might be wondering why Britain’s government has rolled from crisis to crisis since the pandemic began, culminating today in the resignations of two leading ministers, and with the threat of more hanging overhead.

Nuclear Deal in Doldrums

The negotiations on Iran’s nuclear programme are in disorder. Representatives of Iran, the permanent five members of the UN Security Council, and Germany are engaged in busy diplomacy, attempting to resurrect a deal to restrain Iran’s development of nuclear weapons.