global politics

A lasting judgment of the system that imploded in 1989 needs a large view. Fred Halliday's your man

The US is preparing to escalate and retool in Afghanistan. But Pakistan shows why it can't win

European pressure is forcing its microstates to adapt. But Andorrans seek their own reinvention

The insecurity and violence of an ancient Arab land are creating a political implosion

Iran’s election race reaches its climax at a delicate moment for this post-revolutionary state

The crisis of 1989 in Beijing was for China’s elite a brutal lesson in long-term political control

A Caribbean nation at the centre of world events in the 1960s needs to write a fresh page

The surprising contribution of Iraq's neighbours may ensure a final settlement 

The epic moment of 1979 writes a unique - and unfinished - chapter in the story of revolution  

The opening - or not - towards the USA will be an important election issue in Iran

Kyrgyzstan's decision to end the US lease on its Manas airbase is the latest move in Russia's aggressive foreign policy in the post-Soviet space

An arc of states across the "greater middle east" will force itself to the new president's attention

Overwhelming force must not become the new normality of the middle east

How to return moral authority to the Universal Declaration.

The editor of "Russia in Global Affairs" responds to Roderic Lyne Plus: Alexei Arbatov's echoes

A tense region and authoritarian domestic politics limit the space for progress in Yerevan

What does Russia want; how should Nato and the EU respond? An ex-ambassador to Moscow looks ahead  Plus: time to get real, says Charles Grant 

A crisis in world finance is opportunity to retrieve the work of two pioneering thinkers

After the recent Valdai Club meeting with Russian leaders, Charles Grant fears any attempt to push Russia towards a liberal democracy would be counter-productive. What the West can and should do is influence Russia's behaviour on the international stage.

The autonomy of local agents in a nationalist grip is a neglected element of international politics