Right at the start of our conversation, Sergei is keen to emphasise that he never killed anyone. “I wouldn’t be able to live if I was responsible for hurting anyone,” insists the former Russian soldier, who spent several weeks on …
The annihilation of Michel Houellebecq
In Michel Houellebecq’s startlingly long new novel, the 735-page Anéantir, our Everyman protagonist Paul Raison is returned by family illness to his childhood bedroom. There, in typical Houellbecqian fashion, he jabs us with a completely heterodox, completely confident provocation: Matrix …
The unholy alliance of Macron and Le Pen
Macron has faced relentless criticism for his decision to call a snap parliamentary election in July. Having said he wanted a “clarification” from the people after Le Pen’s National Rally (RN) surged to first place in the European Parliament elections, …
Nato is holding back Poland’s self-defence
When Poland joined Nato 25 years ago, it did so to solve an existential problem that it had been plagued by for centuries — the perennial threat of invasion by Germany from the west and Russia from the east. By …
Will France impeach Macron?
After 50 days without a government, France is losing her head. What began as a historical curiosity has descended into a crisis. Not only is the current caretaker government unable to manage anything more than “ongoing affairs”, but the deadline …
Britain needs its luxury class
It’s an idyllic Friday in Spring and I am standing on the factory floor of a silk factory in the heart of Suffolk. Guiding me through this labyrinth of looms is Julius Walters, the 11th-generation Managing Director of Sudbury Silk …
How the AfD revolution ends
Have the worst fears of the Berliner establishment finally come to pass? As soon as the curtain fell on Sunday’s elections in Thuringia and Saxony, the predictable reactions took centre stage. The Alternative für Deutschland’s (AfD) strong showing in the …
Who’s afraid of Sahra Wagenknecht?
Few would have predicted that Germany, long known for having the continent’s most boring politics, would become the epicentre of Europe’s new populist revolt — let alone one coming from both the Right and the Left. And yet, that is …
The EU is hungry for Serbia’s lithium
It’s unusual for Olaf Scholz, Emmanuel Macron and CIA director William Burns all to visit the same small, Eastern European country in the space of weeks — particularly when that same country recently played host to Xi Jinping and is …
Eduard Limonov and the death of a bohemian contrarian
A knife-wielding poet, a lover of beautiful women, a political troublemaker, a novelist who predicted his own immortality — Eduard Limonov has long been cast in many roles. To his roster, he can now add the honour of being played …
Why Ukraine is being blamed for Nord Stream
To understand the truth about the Nord Stream pipeline, one needs to master a certain form of “Kremlinology”. Everything about it is designed to obfuscate, every strand shrouded in prevarication and deceit.
From the start, the investigation was a textbook …
Putin is no longer Russia’s saviour
At the start of this month, Kyiv’s exhausted forces seemed at last overwhelmed by their opponents’ superiority in manpower and firepower. But once again, they have defied expectations. The Ukrainian Armed Forces’ mass incursion into Russian territory has unfolded at …
Russia’s propaganda machine is failing
Throughout its war against Ukraine, the Kremlin has gone to great lengths to inseparably bind the identities of ordinary Russians to the conflict while also insulating them from its immediate effects. It was always a difficult balancing act, but Ukraine’s …
Macron’s Olympic truce is over
“Paris became a place of celebration once more, and France found itself again.” Tony Estanguet, the president of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games organising committee, could be forgiven for indulging himself during his speech at the weekend’s closing ceremony. Even …
My summer with Gibbon
The year 1776 was an eventful one. The August issue of the Gentleman’s Magazine duly carried a curious document from across the ocean called “The Declaration of American Independence”, before proceeding to a more serious matter: a review of a …