Notebooks

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What Richard Wagner can tell us about the Wagner Group

There’s something distinctly Wagnerian about Prigozhin’s rise and fall.

Elisabeth Braw June 30, 2023

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Russia: a short history of failed coups

In Russia, failed coups are usually harbingers of chaos and collapse. Three examples spring to mind: the 1991 attempted coup d’état against Mikhail Gorbachev, Lavr Kornilov’s 1917 ..

Sergey Radchenko June 28, 2023

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In search of Ararat

The slippery nature of representation is the focus of Atom Egoyan’s film about the Armenian genocide, a multi-layered work that is also a meditation on denial.

Muriel Zagha June 27, 2023

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Machiavelli’s take on mercenaries

According to the great Florentine master of statecraft, when it comes to keeping control of your soldiers of fortune, cruelty works.

Alexander Lee June 27, 2023

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The Wars of the Roses and the problem with private armies

In autocracies, no one can be safely relied upon, as the medieval English conflict between the houses of York and Lancaster demonstrates.

Francis Young June 26, 2023

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Marching on Rome

Yevgeny Prigozhin’s attempted coup draws parallels with the great civic conflicts of ancient Rome and the reign of terror that followed.

Armand D'Angour June 26, 2023

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Prigozhin’s coup: the beginning of the end for Putin

Putin has only himself to blame for the mess he has got himself into.

Rodric Braithwaite June 25, 2023

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The fight for the heart of Istanbul

Now under President Erdogan’s control, the symbolic weight of the city’s central square has never been more obvious. What was once a gathering place for dissenters and a cosmopolit..

Hannah Lucinda Smith June 20, 2023

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The Vault of Heaven: Silvio Berlusconi’s final resting place

His personal life may have been splashed across newspaper front pages for all to see, but mystery surrounds the ‘tomb of a pharaoh’ the controversial ex-prime minister has been int..

Guido G. Beduschi June 19, 2023