Notebooks

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

Close-up of the flags of Sweden and NATO.

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How Sweden’s NATO bid became a geopolitical bargaining chip

Sweden’s frustrating NATO accession experience should serve as a warning to other countries that any major international initiative risks becoming a lightning rod for other nations..

Elisabeth Braw December 18, 2023

Postcard featuring Krampus from early 20th century Germany.

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Krampus lives

While the chest-beating behaviour of Austrian youngsters in hairy costumes may appear outdated when measured by modern Western standards, the deep emotions that draw so many people..

Katja Hoyer December 18, 2023

A monument to Bernardo O'Higgins in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

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The paradoxes of Ireland’s imperial past

Ignorance of Ireland’s engagement with empire has enabled extreme nationalists to manipulate a past which is also in the present.

Jane Ohlmeyer December 14, 2023

Venezuelan lawmaker Diosdado Cabello, looks at a new map of Venezuela with the Essequibo territory.

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Venezuela’s Essequibo gamble

Plagued by domestic political and economic difficulties, Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro has ordered the occupation of the Essequibo territory of Guyana. The threat of war now ..

Michael Reid December 13, 2023

The restoration of Notre Dame continues.

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Notre-Dame’s resurrection

The reconstruction of Notre-Dame, scheduled to be completed in a year's time, is a frequent source of wonder for Parisians.

Agnès Poirier December 13, 2023

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The broken lawnmower: Noël Coward’s greatest line?

There are more famous Noël Coward lines, but a quote from the 1942 film, In Which We Serve, might just be his best.

Oliver Soden December 11, 2023

Afghan refugees wait to register in a camp near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.

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Yet another flight across the Durand Line

Pakistan’s expulsion of Afghan refugees is a ghastly new development in relations between the two countries.

Suzanne Raine December 8, 2023

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Explaining the Golden Era

David Cameron's return to government as foreign secretary should prompt a reckoning with the assumptions and effects of the 'Golden Era' of UK-China relations from 2010 to 2020.

Oliver Yule-Smith December 6, 2023

Toy soldiers on a map of the Middle East.

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7 October has not changed the Middle East

Contrary to widespread belief, neither Hamas' attack nor Israel's response have shifted the fundamental dynamics of the Middle East.

Patrick Porter December 4, 2023