Notebooks

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The status quo powers strike back

For several years, revisionist powers have challenged the post-Cold War order. Now, as the second Trump administration takes office, the United States and other status quo powers a..

William Erich Ellison January 22, 2025

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Blood on the Tracks turns 50

Half a century on, Bob Dylan's pared-down masterpiece still stands apart in his catalogue, its extraordinary vitality born of the complex and competing psychological forces it some..

Mathew Lyons January 20, 2025

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Trump in the shadow of Reagan

Reagan’s legacy looms over Trump’s second inauguration ceremony. America’s incoming president is in many ways the heir to Reagan’s populist mantle, but his rhetoric lacks the sunny..

Andrew Preston January 20, 2025

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A team of rivals empowers a president

It was Abraham Lincoln who first harnessed the competing powers of political rivals in order to shape his presidency. His example should guide the statecraft of modern presidents.

David Priess and Kori Schake January 17, 2025

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Podcasts v the written word

The public's appetite for intellectual stimulation is now being met by podcasts. The risks to the written word may prove existential.

Alastair Benn January 14, 2025

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Greenland: Denmark’s post-colonial dilemma

Danes might be advised to strike a more sympathetic tone towards their country's largest territory, and hope that President-elect Trump’s attention shifts elsewhere.

Michael Booth January 13, 2025

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Mozambique at the crossroads 

Mozambique’s election crisis is part of a broader turning point in southern African politics. The zeitgeist is shifting away from the predominance of single parties linked to colon..

Mpiti Mosothoane January 10, 2025

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Literacy’s declining empire

Globally, literacy is in retreat, and with it the ability to imagine a broader reality than our own.

Alastair Benn January 9, 2025

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Le Pen and France’s past, present and future

Jean-Marie Le Pen embodied and electrified fundamental divisions within French society over the history of the Second World War and the French Empire. His legacy is not going away.

Agnès Poirier January 9, 2025