Notebooks

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

US Vice President JD Vance and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán attend a rally in Budapest, Hungary, ahead of the Hungarian parliamentary elections.

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JD Vance’s hope for a Hungarian Europe

The US Vice President views Viktor Orbán’s Hungary as a key battleground in his quest for an alternative civilisational order in Europe, as well as a vital test for his vision of a..

Sumantra Maitra April 10, 2026

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Can democracy cope with an age of impatience?

In a culture shaped by acceleration and instant gratification, democratic systems are struggling to meet the demand for speed.

Elise Morrison April 9, 2026

Azadi Tower in Tehran, Iran. Credit: Universal Images Group North America LLC / DeAgostini.

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Hope for Iran’s democratic future endures

The assumption that war has strengthened hardliners should be questioned. A lasting ceasefire and economic respite following the conflict could yet give Iran's civil society space ..

Maryam Alemzadeh April 8, 2026

British Prime Minister Winston Churchill addresses the crowds from the balcony of the Ministry of Health in Whitehall on VE Day, 8th May 1945

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Let Churchill rest in peace

Britain's wartime prime minister was heroic and courageous, but his virtues and vices belong to a different age. It is time to find new heroes for the British national pantheon.

Brendan Simms April 7, 2026

The Resurrection of Christ depicted on the main Archway to the entrance of the Basilica di San Marco in Venice.

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Easter’s message of love

Those who truly want to save Western Civilisation must begin by recapturing the promise of love embodied in Christ's Resurrection.

Fergus Butler-Gallie April 5, 2026

Pierre-Auguste Renoir's 'Luncheon of the Boating Party'.

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The civilising wonders of wine

The decline in alcohol consumption in Western societies suggests a gradual weakening of a shared civilisational inheritance.

Henry Jeffreys April 4, 2026

Defendants behind bars during a Mafia trial in Palermo, 1986. Credit: Universal Images Group North America LLC

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The unsolved crimes of Sciascia’s Sicily

For Leonardo Sciascia, Sicily serves as a microcosm of Italy, reflecting the nation’s broader power struggles and the pervasive reach of Mafia corruption.

Ian Thomson April 3, 2026

A vintage map from 1907 showing maritime trade routes through the Turkish Straits.

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How to manage a geopolitical chokepoint

The successful 1936 Montreux Convention, a grand diplomatic bargain over the Turkish Straits, shows why geopolitical chokepoints need a strong and reliable status quo power to act ..

Ziyi Wang April 2, 2026

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Why the war in Iran is not a gift to China

The notion that Beijing is the chief beneficiary of the US-Iran conflict is a long way wide of the mark.

George Magnus April 2, 2026