Smart reads March 3, 2014
♦ As the Ukraine crisis escalates with Russian troops taking hold of Crimea, Barack Obama faces his sternest challenge – or as Edward Luce puts it, his chicken Kiev moment. ♦ Western military experts...
View ArticleSmart Reads March 24, 2014
♦ Many Iranians see basij– the ideologically-driven volunteer forces of the Revolutionary Guards – as stick-wielding thugs, but they show a softer side as they sip cappuccino and discuss art at Café...
View ArticleSmart Reads 25 March, 2014
♦ In the new cold war, Russia could hit the US where it hurts – in Iran. ♦ Vladimir Putin has confounded three US presidents as they tried to figure him out. ♦ The decision in Egypt to hand the death...
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Mass death penalty makes mockery of Egypt’s judiciary
Egyptian policemen standing guard outside the courthouse in Minya during the trial of some 683 Islamists on March 25, 2014. AFP/Getty Images That Egypt’s judiciary is politicised is nothing new....
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A global election pile-up in May
What is it about the last week of May and elections? I already have the elections to the European Parliament marked in my diary. They are scheduled to take place in 28 EU nations between May 22 and May...
View ArticleSmart Reads April 1, 2014
“When a man becomes a high official, even his chickens and dogs go to heaven”, but a Chinese corruption investigation means the route for Zhou Yongkang, his chickens and his dogs might well lead...
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The holes in Blair’s Middle Eastern vision
Former Prime Minister Tony Blair speaks on on the Middle East in London on April 23, 2014. (Getty) There are plenty of people who will simply refuse to listen to anything that Tony Blair has to say...
View ArticleFT column: Europe has lost the ability to shape its neighbours
By Gideon Rachman In America, they have Super Tuesday. Europe is about to have a Super Sunday, with elections for the European Parliament taking place across the 28-member EU, ending on May 25. That...
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Qatar pays the price of overreach
Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani (Getty) Has Qatar’s luck run out? Just a year ago the small, rich Gulf state was at the top of its game, well on its way to establishing itself as a regional...
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Terrorism, tourists and the Morsi trial in Egypt
Getty Images The terrorist killing of tourists in the Sinai peninsula is a bad blow for Egypt. If the Egyptian economy is to revive, it is crucial that holidaymakers start coming back to the country....
View ArticleSmart Reads 25 November 2014
Magnus Carlsen retained his crown as world chess champion without the aid of supercomputers or a huge team of assistants – reinforcing the view that he is the best player the game has ever seen...
View ArticleSmart Reads 2 December 2014
Following the military coup and counter-revolution, Egypt’s main problem is the restoration of the security state, which is using the judiciary as one of its arms to stifle dissent and ringfence the...
View ArticleSmart Reads 3 December 2014
For Vladimir Putin, the decision to scrap the flagship $50bn South Stream project transporting gas across the Black Sea into Europe was a rare loss of face, but there is no clear victor in Brussels...
View ArticleSmart Reads 4 February 2015
After releasing a video showing the brutal burning alive of a captured Jordanian pilot, Isis’ attempts to turn Arabs against each other risk backfiring, writes David Gardner The EU is supposed to be a...
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Putin and his many pals
Vladimir Putin with Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban In the West, Vladimir Putin is often viewed as something of an international pariah. Shift your perspective, however, and it is quite striking...
View ArticleSmart Reads 2 March 2015
Despite a collective show of mourning for the assassinated opposition politician Boris Nemtsov, the prospects for Russia’s anti-Putin movement remain bleak In one of his last interviews days before he...
View ArticleSmart Reads 2 July 2015
Angela Merkel is taking her revenge on Greek prime minister Alexis Tsipras by insisting there can be no more talks on the country’s debt crisis until after its referendum on the bailout on Sunday...
View ArticleSmart Reads 5 August 2015
The growth of temporary jobs with precarious conditions in Europe poses a challenge for policymakers (FT’s New World of Work series) The leader of Turkey’s pro-Kurdish political party is defiant in an...
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EgyptAir flight MS804 crash unfolds
An EgyptAir aircraft on a flight from Paris to Cairo has crashed into the Mediterranean, with 66 people on board. A multinational search and rescue effort is underway in an area between the Greek...
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