Philip Stephens | Financial Times

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Thursday, 23 September, 2021

Geopolitics
The French are right about the Americans
Washington has always been careless of its allies in the pursuit of the US national interest
Thursday, 16 September, 2021

Boris Johnson
What Joe Biden should tell Boris Johnson about Northern Ireland
The US president could be a candid friend to the UK and urge the prime minister to honour his post-Brexit Irish trade deal
Thursday, 9 September, 2021

German politics
Europe does not need four more years of ‘Merkelism’
Germany must shoulder more of the burden of defending an open international system
Thursday, 2 September, 2021

US foreign policy
The US will not find security behind its borders
Joe Biden has declared the end of America’s efforts at nation building, but the world is no safer for his retreat
Thursday, 26 August, 2021

UK foreign policy
Kabul retreat leaves the UK on a bridge to nowhere
US indifference to its ally’s interests in the Afghan pullout underscores London’s dependence on Washington
Thursday, 19 August, 2021

Afghanistan
Europe had better face facts about the Biden doctrine
The retreat from Afghanistan has seen the US draw a much tighter definition of its national interest
Thursday, 29 July, 2021

Climate change
Climate change is a global threat demanding national solutions
The lofty hopes of the COP26 process will have meaning only if they connect with local politics
Thursday, 22 July, 2021

Brexit
Boris Johnson has made a Brexit offer the EU can only refuse
The UK’s latest proposals for the Northern Ireland protocol are an attempt to tear up an international treaty
Thursday, 15 July, 2021

Russian politics
The brittle facade of Vladimir Putin’s Russia
Democracies have been bent out of shape by rising populism but autocrats are more likely to crack under pressure
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Thursday, 8 July, 2021

Coronavirus pandemic
The young are pawns in Boris Johnson’s Covid experiment
The UK government’s plan to lift remaining restrictions will let the virus sweep through the nation’s children
Thursday, 1 July, 2021

Brexit
The German threat to the UK is indifference
Boris Johnson’s government is still obsessed with Brexit, but its erstwhile EU partners have other priorities
Thursday, 24 June, 2021

German politics
After Merkel, Germany must admit the return of history
Three decades after the fall of the Berlin Wall, an assertive China and revanchist Russia have shattered the nation’s dreams
Thursday, 17 June, 2021

Geopolitics
Gangs replace rules in the new global order
Joe Biden’s week of summitry reclaims US leadership of the west as the world returns to great power rivalry
Thursday, 27 May, 2021

Angela Merkel
Merkel has dealt Europe’s authoritarian leaders a trump card
German chancellor’s refusal to halt Nord Stream 2 encourages Putin to act with impunity
Thursday, 20 May, 2021

Brexit
Joe Biden can help break Northern Ireland’s Brexit deadlock
The US president should lend his authority to the Irish protocol by appointing a special envoy
Thursday, 13 May, 2021

UK politics & policy
The state takes control in Johnson’s post-Brexit Britain
The prime minister has abandoned Thatcherism for the dirigisme of the UK’s European neighbours
Thursday, 6 May, 2021

G7
The west is in a contest, not a cold war, with China
To restore their relevance the G7 rich democracies need to come up with a better offer than Beijing
Thursday, 29 April, 2021

Scottish independence
Boris Johnson’s Tories have given up on saving the UK union
The Conservative advance in Labour ‘red wall’ seats underscored the party’s tilt to English nationalism
Thursday, 22 April, 2021

European Super League
JPMorgan Chase has scored a Super League own goal
The failed plan to reorganise Europe’s most popular sport spoke to the arrogance of anything-goes globalisation
Thursday, 15 April, 2021

Geopolitics
Biden will not change Putin but is right to talk to him
The US president is striking a balance between democratic values and pragmatic engagement
Thursday, 8 April, 2021

US politics & policy
Europe has a lot to learn from Joe Biden’s audacity
The US president’s expansive economic strategy stands in stark contrast to the EU’s defensive incrementalism
Thursday, 18 March, 2021

Globalisation
Supply chain ‘sovereignty’ will undo globalisation’s gains
The search for national ‘resilience’ can too easily tip into protectionism
Thursday, 11 March, 2021

UK politics & policy
Squandering trust is no route to a ‘Global Britain’
By seeking to renege on his Brexit commitments, Boris Johnson has made the UK an unreliable ally
Thursday, 4 March, 2021

Brexit
Leavers will forever blame Brussels for Brexit’s failure
Hubris, resentment and insecurity still loom large in Britain’s attitude to the EU
Thursday, 25 February, 2021

US foreign policy
Joe Biden has a lesson in democracy for Angela Merkel
US president’s call to arms against authoritarianism challenges German chancellor’s business-first approach