After the first world war, workers wanted a peace dividend for their sacrifices. Within three years they got it. Almost every industrialised nation – with the exception of Japan – accepted the newly established International Labour Organization’s call to limit working hours to eight a day and 48 a week. While most developed countries enacted … Continue reading The Guardian view on a four-day week: policies needed to make it a reality
Category: Journalism
The Case for Nordic and NATO Realism
To be a realist in international relations is to accept that some states are more sovereign than others. “Strict realism” now requires that Sweden and Finland pause before rushing into NATO’s arms, and that the Alliance take a step back before accepting them. LONDON – Finland and Sweden have announced that they will apply for NATO membership. But joining … Continue reading The Case for Nordic and NATO Realism
The False Promise of Democratic Peace
Clinging to the assumption that only dictatorships start military conflicts, proponents of democratization believed that the global success of their project would usher in a world without war. But this theory lacks a sound foundation and has produced one disaster after another when put into practice. LONDON – Through persuasion, exhortation, legal processes, economic pressure, … Continue reading The False Promise of Democratic Peace
Times letters: The tough act of following Cressida Dick
UKRAINE DIPLOMACY Sir, In discussing the possible “Finlandisation” of Ukraine, your leading article (“Kyiv’s Cause”, Feb 11) correctly states that it would unacceptable for great powers to enforce such a policy on Ukraine. In his brilliant book The Ambassadors, Sir Robert Cooper explains that Finland’s neutrality was not “enforced” by great powers but was decided by … Continue reading Times letters: The tough act of following Cressida Dick
Exchange of the week: Did the West create the monster?
To the Financial Times Martin Wolf is right to say that Vladimir Putin has ignited an indefensible war against Ukraine. That it is worse than a crime is highlighted by your report on Kharkiv, described as "another Stalingrad". You do not call Ukrainians your brothers then bomb them into submission. Whatever the war's immediate results, … Continue reading Exchange of the week: Did the West create the monster?
Brighton College Lecture: Background to Ukraine
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Think Twice Before Sanctioning Russia Further
Despite massive Western economic sanctions against Russia, the chance that they will lead to President Vladimir Putin's ouster, or even to a drastic change in Russian policy toward Ukraine, is much lower than most people suppose. It is far more likely that punishing will neither stop the war nor secure the peace. LONDON – The … Continue reading Think Twice Before Sanctioning Russia Further
Letter: Just look at the map to see Moscow’s point of view
Martin Wolf is right to say that Vladimir Putin has ignited an indefensible war against Ukraine (Opinion, March 2). That it is worse than a crime is a folly highlighted by your report about Kharkiv, described as “another Stalingrad” (March 3). You do not call Ukrainians your brothers, then bomb them into submission. Whatever the … Continue reading Letter: Just look at the map to see Moscow’s point of view
Letter: Just look at the map to see Moscow’s point of view
Martin Wolf is right to say that Vladimir Putin has ignited an indefensible war against Ukraine (Opinion, March 2). That it is worse than a crime is a folly highlighted by your report about Kharkiv, described as “another Stalingrad” (March 3). You do not call Ukrainians your brothers, then bomb them into submission. Whatever the … Continue reading Letter: Just look at the map to see Moscow’s point of view
Economic Recovery in the Age of COVID-19
The COVID-19 pandemic is an invitation to what the economist Joseph Schumpeter called creative destruction: a chance to liquidate obsolete investments and to create something new, better, and, in the jargon, more ‘resilient’ and ‘sustainable’. Schumpeter understood that humankind does not progress in a balanced way, rather it lurches from one extreme to another, each … Continue reading Economic Recovery in the Age of COVID-19
Robert Skidelsky 