Notebooks

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

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Nordic cinema’s new masculinity

Scandinavian film directors specialise in honest yet compassionate studies of male identity.

James Mcloughlin November 27, 2024

Five floors below ground, in the city of Kharkiv, artists of the Opera House continue to prepare for their performances.

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Kharkiv’s culture unbowed

Kharkiv National Theatre of Opera and Ballet continues to stage performances underground, as Russian missiles pummel the city. The resilience of the performers deserves a happy end..

Jade McGlynn November 27, 2024

The bombardment of Acre during the Oriental Crisis of 1840.

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The 1840 Oriental Crisis, a triumph of diplomacy

In 1840, a climactic clash in the Levant was resolved in a way that presents important lessons to contemporary policymakers facing a similar situation.

William Erich Ellison November 25, 2024

Yongsan Railway Station in Seoul showing a news broadcast of a test launch of new intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) 'Hwasong-19' at an undisclosed place in North Korea.

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Navigating the new nuclear age

Nuclear deterrence is neither a magic bullet nor an obsolete relic. It is a complex and dynamic tool that demands continuous adaptation, clear-eyed assessment, and a nuanced unders..

Reja Younis November 22, 2024

A woman kisses the flag of Somaliland after voting in the 2024 presidential election.

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Somaliland’s race for recognition

Somaliland’s landmark election showcases its democratic resilience and ambition for recognition, even as it navigates regional tensions and international indifference.

Matt Kenyon November 22, 2024

In December 2022, Donald Trump announced the launch of his own NFT trading card collection.

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Donald Trump’s cryptopia

The crypto movement alone didn’t win it for Trump, but it was a central node, a technological anchor point in a fuzzy constellation of anti-establishment ideas and philosophies, al..

Jamie Bartlett November 21, 2024

President Donald Trump in the Situation Room discussing Iranian attacks on US troops in Iran.

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Trump and Iran face off across a new Middle East

Four years after his first term, Donald Trump returns to a Middle East reshaped by war, where the United States and Iran face a pivotal choice between escalating conflict or pursui..

Afshon Ostovar November 14, 2024

Titian's Cupid with the Wheel of Fortune.

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The perils of predicting the future

Thinking about the future as a mystery to be divined, rather than an outcome to be shaped, has become hard-wired into the way we talk about what will happen next in foreign policy.

Suzanne Raine November 13, 2024

Roy Marsden as Neil Burnside in The Sandbaggers.

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The Sandbaggers: the greatest spy show ever?

With its realistic portrayal of spycraft and encapsulation of the spirit of 1970s Britain, The Sandbaggers might just be the best ever TV series about espionage.

Dan Lomas November 13, 2024