22nd of July, 2025 Note: I post below my speech of 18 July in the House of Lords on Britain’s Strategic Defence Review. (The section in brackets was left out due to pressure of time. Backbenchers were allowed 5 minutes each). I was the only one of 39 speakers to have any substantial criticisms of the … Continue reading Strategic Defence Review Debate – House of Lords
Tag: Russia
The False Premise of European Rearmament
Have European leaders stopped to consider the Orwellian implications of gearing up their nations for perpetual war? On March 5 2025, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen unveiled her Re-Arm Europe Plan, which aims to boost EU defense spending by €800 billion over four years. On June 5, NATO defense ministers agreed to double … Continue reading The False Premise of European Rearmament
“Slava Ukraini!”: how the British media went to war against Russia
The British press has been the most consistently bellicose on the subject of Russia-Ukraine: the same phrases, the same sentiments were on display in every mainstream newspaper and political magazine An accepted difference between a despotism and a democracy is that in the first there is a single opinion while the second allows a variety … Continue reading “Slava Ukraini!”: how the British media went to war against Russia
Should Europe Rearm?
10th of June 2025 Europe is committed to rearmament. Commission President van der Leyden unveiled her ‘ReArm Europe Plan’ which aims to boost EU defence spending by euros 800bn over four years. On 5 June NATO defence ministers agreed to double their members’ annual defence spending from an average of roughly 2.5% of GDP to … Continue reading Should Europe Rearm?
The Nation: Russophobia—an Epidemic Disease?
8th of May 2025 It is right to be suspicious of Putin’s intentions without falling for the idea that he will never stop. In 1836 the liberal philosopher John Stuart Mill claimed that Lord Melbourne’s government was smitten with the “epidemic disease of Russophobia,” an irrational panic that had triggered an unnecessary increase in defense … Continue reading The Nation: Russophobia—an Epidemic Disease?
The Lost Peace?
13th of May 2025 As the Ukrainian war enters its third year, there has been renewed, if rather limp, talk of a ceasefire followed by negotiations. The premise is that since neither side can ‘win’, it makes sense to start making peace. Few now remember that the war almost ended before it got going. On … Continue reading The Lost Peace?
Letter in The Guardian: Russia adviser Fiona Hill’s alarming conclusion
Fri 13 Jun 2025 Fiona Hill’s assessment of the Russian threat to Britain is a classic example of how a seemingly rational argument based on a false premise and scanty evidence can lead to a mad conclusion (Russia is at war with Britain and US is no longer a reliable ally, UK adviser says, 6 … Continue reading Letter in The Guardian: Russia adviser Fiona Hill’s alarming conclusion
Podcast Appearances
Please find my latest podcast appearances from the past month below: Neutrality Studies - Pascal Lottaz: "Britain’s insistence on total Ukrainian victory was misguided – it’s time for a realistic compromise" Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fRekSG5p2U&t=53s Glen Diesen: "Pax-Americana is Over" Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALnyAWz5l8I&t=998s Glen Diesen: "Europe Is Trapped by Its Own Propaganda in Ukraine" Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtDydebAs8k&t=1240s Glen Diesen: … Continue reading Podcast Appearances
Europe’s Misguided Interventions
Apr 01, 2025 Crossposted from "Brave New Europe" At last week’s Paris meeting of the ‘coalition of the willing’, Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron congratulated themselves on reinserting Europe into the peace process opened up by President Trump. In practice, they have done their best to derail it. Nothing is more foolish than their idea … Continue reading Europe’s Misguided Interventions
Lord Skidelsky to ask His Majesty’s Government what is their policy with regard to the Ukraine war following the new policy of the government of the United States of America.
18th of March 2025 My Lords, last Thursday, the noble Lord, Lord Howell, asked the House to take note of the UK’s international position. My purpose today is narrower but more urgent; to ask the Government what their Ukraine policy now is. It is urgent because the Trump Administration have torn up the familiar script. … Continue reading Lord Skidelsky to ask His Majesty’s Government what is their policy with regard to the Ukraine war following the new policy of the government of the United States of America.
Robert Skidelsky 