From obscure stakes in biotech companies to intellectual property theft, the Chinese state is engaged in corporate subterfuge. But what can the West do about it?
Rousseau’s concept of the ‘noble savage’ presented an enduring challenge to the Enlightenment moral order.
The traditional Arab State is under increasing pressure from internal and external forces. Will those in power recognise the need for reform before it is too late?
Questions of accountability were at the heart of the European integration project, even before the devastating impetus of the Second World War.
Deference to history will not be enough to answer the geopolitical questions of the future. New systemic forces are in play.
The internet and social media were supposed to democratise knowledge and unite the world. Things didn’t quite turn out that way.
Western governments must wake up to the uncomfortable reality that when terrorists go quiet, they might be planning something big.
While no longer a state power, the Catholic Church remains a powerful political force in modern diplomacy.
Modern society is history’s most equal. But progress has not been linear – or easy to calculate.
Ancient Chinese ideas on merit are being manipulated to block checks on power and venerate authoritarian governance.
How did our ancestors think? The written word provides crucial evidence of how language has shaped human consciousness.
American state investment in science is returning. But the threats of today – pandemics, climate change, China – will require bold political leadership as well as money.
The nature of war has changed forever. The West must adapt if it is to ward off threats to global stability.
In the cultural vacuum left by the collapse of communism, nostalgia for the Soviet Union defines and sustains the modern Russian nation.
The roots of modern China lie in ancient philosophical notions of the all-powerful leader and an obedient citizenry.
Studying the evolution of Austria in the 20th century offers deep insight into essential Western political categories.
Acts of extreme self-sacrifice – such as suicide bombing – are not aberrations. They tell us something about our deepest instincts for group loyalty.
Humanity’s relationship with nature is under threat. Rather than abandoning it to the wild, however, we must embrace the age-old idea of Arcadia – and reform our stewardship of the earth.
The current violence and turmoil in the Middle East is expressive of a conflict between rival ideas, between the modern nation state and an old, historical concept of an Islamic caliphate.
Humberstone in Chile, now a ghost town, was once the centre of the saltpetre industry, a chemical compound useful for gunpowder and fertiliser. Its changing fortunes offer a parable for ever-present themes of abundance, geopolitical overreach and interstate competition.
The Five Eyes network represents one of the closest partnerships between nation states in history – how did it come into being? And what explains its remarkable durability?
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