It seems that the era of repetitive politics is over in Japan. Since her inauguration as the first female Prime Minister of Japan, Sanae Takaichi has set a new path for Japan’s foreign policy. Her first order of action? A diplomatic firestorm with China. In her parliamentary declaration of last November, Takaichi underlined that any attempt of a Chinese blockade against Taiwan will signal an existential threat for Japan, precipitating the need for a collective self-defence st

Over the weekend, Keir Starmer had to once again confront a problem in the shape of Andy Burnham . The issue was not really a new one for Starmer. In fact, by this point, talk  of Andy Burnham angling for a seat in Parliament to challenge the Prime Minister has become a kind of political groundhog day. What was new this time was the fact that the problem before Starmer was no longer a hypothetical one, and Andy Burnham was - after months of speculation - attempting to make a

“When you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss also gazes into you” is a line from Nietzsche , who warned that “whoever fights with monsters should see to it that he does not become a monster.” I recall this Nietzschean fragment as apposite to today’s Venezuela, and how tempting it is for those who struggle against domination to justify using the dominator’s tools. Venezuela is not only a tragedy for Venezuelans; it is a test of whether democracies can resist becoming what they

Relations between the USA and Venezuela experienced one of the most shocking fractures in modern diplomatic history this January when President Maduro was captured by US special forces and taken to New York. His midnight Caracas kidnapping has transformed tensions between the two countries from a classic diplomatic crisis into a global sovereignty and legal crisis, rendering it a pivotal test of the nascent multipolar world order, rather than a mere feud between strongmen. An

On December 1st 2025 Khaled Mohamed Ali El Hishri, commonly known as ‘El Hishri’, was surrendered to the International Criminal Court (ICC) and is to face trial for war crimes and crimes against humanity in The Hague this year. The trial is a significant moment in the modern history of European-Libyan relations as it demonstrates that crimes - both contemporary and historical - of the greatest severity that are committed in Libyan detention centres are subject to internationa

Commonly known as the Western Anchor, Bulgaria has officially  adopted the Euro and become a member of the Eurozone. The European Central Bank (ECB) can finally welcome Bulgaria as an official member as of January 1, 2026, carrying the weight of the anchor to new and more democratic heights. Becoming a member of the European Union in 2007 , alongside Romania, further solidifies the formidable barrier that aims to contain the Putin War Machine in Moscow. Leaving the Lev behind

Only a select few would claim agricultural surpluses are a sexy topic. But in this arena the seeds have been sown for a potential backlash against the current US administration, as recently decimated international food aid policies were once a pressure release valve for tensions with the agriculture lobby over slumping crop prices – a problem faced by the US government again today.  Trump’s vision is of America as a producer, an export powerhouse, maker and grower of things t

If the previous decade permitted us at safe distance  to  pontificate  about Polycrisis, 2026 is the junctural year for communities to recognise their need to act. Risks are mounting, their potential impacts are becoming more severe. US users of social media sounded alarms concerning the prospect of a global recession all throughout 2025, particularly over Trump’s trade tariffs  and an alleged AI stock market bubble.  Neither prediction has definitively occurred (yet), but th

It was dusk by the time I pulled out of Hasankale station and continued my journey eastward, chasing the evening sun over the Anatolian plains. The family I had shared a cabin and spinach börek with for the past twenty-four hours had just disembarked, leaving their seats all but empty; a scribbled goodbye note and trail of filo pastry remained in their place. They had waved goodbye from the station platform, dwarfed by a banner displaying a face I was now familiar with. The s

Churchill may or may not have said – it’s an aphorism with cloudy provenance – that “Americans can always be trusted to do the right thing, once all other possibilities have been exhausted.” NATO’s Secretary-General Mark Rutte may or may not believe it. After all, as American threats to obtain Greenland, a member of NATO via the Danish commonwealth, grow increasingly bellicose, the “Trump-whisperer” is all but silent.  Adopting a ‘nothing to see here’ attitude with almost mon

Donald Trump’s unprecedented attack on the chair of the Federal Reserve, Jerome Powell, has been met with an equally unprecedented defence composed of Ex-Fed chairs, central bank governors, and titans  of global finance. Central to this alliance’s criticism of Trump is an ominous warning of disaster to come should the Fed’s independence be violated. For example, European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde emphasised the role central bank independence played as a “corner

In politics, particularly within the UK, our politicians , and those commentating on them, like to talk about putting ‘country before party’. Keir Starmer is no exception to this rule. In fact, the Prime Minister has become its embodiment. Since becoming leader of the Labour Party he has - when asked about his leadership style - often quipped that his Labour Party is a party focused only on the nation’s interests, that it is one disinterested in internal spats. In fact, this

I first became a cinephile at a time when going to the movies was impossible.  Like many other people, I kept myself busy during the COVID-19 pandemic by indulging in the best, and worst, movies that streaming services had to offer.  It was my first real involvement with the ‘canon’ of Hollywood productions. I sobbed at The Pursuit of Happyness , cried with laughter at Mean Girls , had my breath taken away by Top Gun,  and couldn’t refuse the offer to watch The Godfather  wit

The New York Times published  one of the finest long-form features in recent memory last week. The piece was a thorough chronicling of the US-Ukraine relationship and its evolution over the past 12 action-filled months. Despite the US’s off-the-cuff approach to foreign policy, the brazen contempt it shows Ukraine and the rest of Europe is consistently striking. Pressure is barely exerted on Putin, with any attempt to end his barbarous actions feeling futile. Everything is stu

Following Labour’s November budget, much of the commentariat mourned the supposed death of New Labour. The Times’s Danny Finkelstein, for instance, suggested the fiscal event marked the end of the ‘New Labour dream’ , while The Independent’s John Rentoul suggested the faction laid buried beneath the budget . Much of the country will, however, have, even if quietly, been uttering the following sentiment subsequent to reading of its passing: ‘phew’. Seen as a necessary evil by

When asked about his thoughts  on JFK’s assassination, Malcolm X responded with the phrase “the chickens come home to roost.” Malcolm, writing during America’s imperialist scramble over the newly decolonized nations, criticized the belief that America could impart political violence abroad without expecting any consequences closer to home. American naivete, if not outright arrogance, has led to the perpetuation of Western imperialism to our day. Consistently, America undermin

On December 9 th  an inconspicuous press release  by Huntington Ingalls Industries   (HII) and Babcock International quietly announced a huge shift in US defence procurement. For the first time the US nuclear submarine program will manufacture significant components outside the states. The announcement confirmed that complex hull assemblies for the new US navy’s (USN) Virginia block VI nuclear submarines  will be produced in Babcock’s Rosyth dock in Scotland.  For defence obs

This Trump administration’s recent Latin American chevauchées are old school. But the world has moved on since Monroe, and regional actors may well respond in more modern manners to the egregious treatment of Venezuela. ‘Gunboat diplomacy’ was the name awarded, perhaps most famously, to the actions of US Commodore Perry in the 1850s. The USA gained access to the closed-off Japanese economy by pounding Japanese infrastructure from the sea until it got its way. Though this infa

From a distance it is hard to see why Vladimir Putin did not accept December’s peace plan for the Ukraine war, to prevent it entering its fourth year. The deal would have forced Ukraine to secede far more territory to Russia than the actual inroads made. Ukraine would have to hold elections, be forbidden from joining NATO, and reduce the size of its army. These were all crucial war aims for Russia before the beginning of the ‘special military operation,’ so it is mystifying

A few weeks before Christmas, I quietly wrote a piece  for a student publication exploring Trump’s continuation of the 1823 Monroe Doctrine  through his rampant interventions in America’s so-called backyard. In light of recent kidnappings , I suppose I should have bought a lottery ticket too.  Trump had been pushing the limits in Venezuela for a while. On December 10 th , the US seized a crude oil tanker , which Trump claimed was being used to transport oil between Iran and V