India and Europe and Ukraine

The democratic world is disunited. 

More or less artfully concealed, disagreements on the fate of Ukraine emerge among NATO members almost weekly, and in Asia and the Pacific, democracies are nominally holding together. While all finally appreciate and are prepared to counter the threat to peace posed by a newly belligerent China, in practice, diplomacy between them is still, in part, an airing of decades- or centuries-long grievances. Especially when it comes to India. 

Macron’s Mediations

On May 30, French journalist Frederic Leclerc-Imhoff, who was 32, was killed by Russian artillery shrapnel. He was covering a humanitarian evacuation in eastern Ukraine and was killed during an apparent humanitarian ceasefire. 

Madeleine Albright Was an Idealist Overpowered by Cynics

People die at random, of course, but it seems poignant that Madeleine Albright has died at the very moment the liberal post-Soviet world has met its own, more violent, end. Her term as Bill Clinton’s secretary of state coincided with the moment America, the most powerful nation in the history of the world, sat, unknowingly, at its own apogee.

Rich Russians Flock to the UAE as the Financial Iron Curtain Descends

In the aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and the unprecedented international sanctions targeting Russia’s economy, people and money have been fleeing Russia. Among them are some of the richest people in the world, Russia’s oligarchs, who are the target of both personalised sanctions and international attention.

The By-Election in Southend West Is an Undemocratic Travesty

By-elections to the House of Commons are exciting. Especially when held in the middle of a parliamentary term, they can shake governments, give rise to novel protests, or reflect local quirks. They can embody all the vitality and magic of democracy, with previously sure winners surprisingly defeated and new, unlikely voices given national platform.

On Being Left a Library

Of all the features of bereavement, cardboard boxes are the most incongruous and the most inevitable. They help, and sometimes obstruct, the packing up and dispersing of a life. They carry possessions which have become things, in the hope that they may yet be possessions again.  

Yet Another Update

For the rest of this year, with not much else going on, I will try to find some kind of representation. If that is unsuccessful, I will begin publishing manuscripts myself, at a fairly steady rate yet to be determined, almost certainly along the line pioneered by Nibras Kazimi with Stations Along the Rim. Perhaps with other elaborations.

Another Update

In addition to my newsletter on books, still periodically appearing on Substack, I can tentatively announce that I am to begin writing a series of book-length essays on culture, international politics and individual stories of our age of great power competition. I do not yet know when these will start to appear as my schedule is very much unsettled. But once I have decided the details of when and where, I will return to this website to say more.

An Update

I have started an email newsletter on Substack, where I review books. It can be found, and you can subscribe, here. I will continue to post copies of pieces I publish in other outlets here on this blog, but I will not republish any of my newsletter. If you want to read its archive, or to sign up, visit the link above.

Canada’s, and Britain’s, Conservatives

Denied an electoral bellwether for over a year because of the pandemic, politicians and commentators have unleashed their pent-up desire for analysis on this year’s local, regional, by- and London elections.