Why Baathism was doomed

As well as the most persistent of revolutions, Syria’s was also the most total. Over a decade and more of struggle, the Syrian people ousted not just Bashar al-Assad, but also his army and security services, his prisons and surveillance …

Why DOGE will fail

The thing about a chainsaw is that it’s really great for some tasks — say, chopping up a tree — and really bad for others — say, performing surgery. We don’t “support” or “oppose” chainsaws, we try to ensure that …

Keir Starmer’s foolish China strategy

Last month’s release of DeepSeek’s latest AI model shattered assumptions about Silicon Valley’s technological exceptionalism. Some have even called it China’s “Sputnik moment”. But China’s rise to the frontier of AI is no accident. It is the product of decades …