Notebooks

Notebooks are snapshots from our writers, reflecting on current affairs and underappreciated aspects of culture and history.

Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy meet in New York, September 2024.

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Five obstacles to Trump’s peace plan

President-elect Donald Trump, in his anxious determination to bring the war to a prompt close, may soon discover that the Russian leadership has a different timeline, and indeed a ..

Sergey Radchenko November 11, 2024

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The method and madness of Ancient Greek medicine

The paradox of ancient Greek medicine was that while Hippocrates’ focus on observation and ethics transformed care, the theory that health relied on balancing humours restrained sc..

Armand D'Angour November 8, 2024

The Estonian Navy's Lindormen-class minelayer.

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An agile alliance: how Europe can grasp the initiative on defence

Europe must act to defend itself. The Joint Expeditionary Force of seven NATO nations is a solid foundation.

Elisabeth Braw November 7, 2024

Surangel Whipps Jr, president of Palau, at the tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington, Virginia.

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Palau – 5 November’s other election

In the other national election of 5 November, two presidential candidates – and brothers-in-law – battled over the future of Palau, a Pacific archipelago at the centre of the geopo..

Jacob Judah November 6, 2024

Grigory Zinoviev (1883-1936), Bolshevik revolutionary and Soviet Communist politician, after his arrest by the Okhrana in 1908.

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The enduring mystery of the Zinoviev Letter

The continuing interest in the Zinoviev Letter, a century after its publication, is illustrative of how the defeated can look for someone to blame, often with destructive results.

Gill Bennett November 5, 2024

More than 1.5 million people take part in a march to support freedom of expression.

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Liberté and Laïcité

In a world where secularism and faith collide, how do we navigate a balance between separation and segregation?

Muriel Zagha November 1, 2024

A memorial to John Procter, one of the victims of the Salem Witch Trials.

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Salem, the dark home of Halloween

It is easy to get swept away in the Americanisation of Halloween, but we must not forget the darkness of Salem, and a time when persecution and cultural conflicts reigned.

Fergus Butler-Gallie October 31, 2024

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The magic of Thomas Mann

Reading Thomas Mann’s masterpiece The Magic Mountain, 100 years after publication, suggests our present upheavals are not signs of sickness, but the first steps towards recovery.

Guy Stagg October 30, 2024

Electoral College ballot boxes from states arrive to a joint session of Congress, 6 January 2021.

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The looming crisis of an Electoral College tie

A tie between Trump and Harris in the Electoral College remains possible in the 2024 presidential election, and the constitutional procedures for resolving it are elaborate and fra..

Angus Brown October 30, 2024