21 h. ago Trump isn't a reliable ally – but Nato dollars can be more persuasive than Putin's propaganda | Rafael Behr

There is no guarantee the US president’s impatience with Russia will last, but the Kremlin may come to regret testing his patienceBefore Donald Trump was a politician he was a property tycoon. Naturally, he thought he could fix the Ukraine war with a real-estate deal. In exchange for a ceasefire, Vladimir Putin would get to keep territory he had already seized.But before Putin was a politician he was a KGB agent who mourned the collapse of the Soviet Union. His idea of a fair solution begins with Ukraine’s total submission to an imperial Russian motherland.Rafael Behr is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

Politics

7 d. ago Macron and Starmer talk Trump, boats and Ukraine – but Brexit is the ghost at the banquet | Rafael Behr

The prime minister has repaired broken relations with France, but Britain still looks perilously isolated in a world of shifting alliancesGilded carriages and royal banquets are not essential tools of modern diplomacy, but nor are they obsolete. In a digital age, when intergovernmental business could easily be conducted online, the analogue grandeur of a state visit feels potent as a bestowal of favour.This week Emmanuel Macron is the beneficiary. In September it will be Donald Trump. The sequence is not meant to indicate preference. Both relationships are special, say officials. There are enough champagne receptions and sleepovers at Windsor Castle to go around.Rafael Behr is a Guardian columnistOne year of Labour, with Pippa Crerar, Rafael Behr and more On 9 July, join Pippa Crerar, Raf Behr, Frances O’Grady and Salma Shah as they look back at one year of the Labour government, its current policies and plans for the next four years Continue reading...

Politics

7 d. ago Spineless tennis chiefs have gifted propaganda to Vladimir Putin by forcing Wimbledon to let Russians play, writes IAN HERBERT

IAN HERBERT: He was confidently striding around court on Tuesday, cap flipped back in the golden sunshine, taking the applause on No 1 Court as if butter wouldn't melt.

Politics

2 w. ago DOMINIC LAWSON: Why Putin has been denied a propaganda 'triumph' by the Mail's gripping revelations about the brilliant new boss of MI6

His is getting to be a habit - and an embarrassing one for Britain's Secret Intelligence Service, otherwise known as MI6.

Politics

3 w. ago Trump says a major ally is on his hit list after skipping out on NATO pay...and will face severe consequences

Trump accused the country of getting a 'little bit of a free ride and warned they'll 'have to pay it back to us on trade.'

Politics

3 w. ago Trump is angry with a world that won't give him easy deals | Rafael Behr

In the Middle East as in Ukraine, the president is discovering that simple bullying tricks don’t resolve complex international crisesIt was as close as Donald Trump might get to a lucid statement of his governing doctrine. “I may do it. I may not do it,” the president said to reporters on the White House lawn. “Nobody knows what I’m going to do.”The question was about joining Israeli air strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities. Days later, US bombers were on their way. Some expected it to happen. Others, including Keir Starmer, had gone on record to say they didn’t. No one had known. The unpredictability doctrine wouldn’t have been violated either way.Rafael Behr is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

Politics

4 w. ago China has '500 nuclear missiles ready to use' as target revealed in WW3 claim by Putin propaganda

Wars are happening everywhere, with world leaders throwing their troops into battle, but China's nuclear capabilities are often forgotten about as World War 3 fears ramp up

Events

4 w. ago G7 leaders are paralysed by their fear of upsetting Donald Trump | Rafael Behr

Tyranny is contagious – and western governments’ reluctance to name the threat is helping it spreadThere is no founding charter or admissions process to the self-selecting group of “leading” economic powers that currently numbers seven. It was the G8 from 1997 to March 2014. Then Russia annexed Crimea and had its membership suspended, establishing the rule that participating nations should not seize their neighbours’ land.The White House used to condemn that sort of thing on the grounds that “it violates the principles upon which the international system is built”. These days, not so much. On Sunday, shortly after arriving for a G7 meeting in the Canadian resort of Kananaskis, Donald Trump told his host, the Canadian prime minister, Mark Carney, that Vladimir Putin’s expulsion from the club had been a “big mistake”.Rafael Behr is a Guardian columnistOne year of Labour, with Pippa Crerar, Rafael Behr and moreOn 9 July, join Pippa Crerar, Rafael Behr, Frances O’Grady and Salma Shah as...

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