Or brilliant conceptual exercise hampered by lack of money? — “Our mission is clear,” begins the UK’s 2023 Defence Command Paper, issued last week: “to protect the nation and help it prosper”. It continues: “That does not just mean more ships, tanks and jets — indeed in this document there are deliberately no new commitments on platforms at all– because…

Stalinist nostalgia, Putinism and anti-Semitism prove a toxic mix — [This is a long-read. It originally appeared on my Substack newsletter in two parts. I’m making it available here because it has stimulated an sharp political debate in the UK.] I was recently alerted to an anti-Semitic post by a participant in the 5,000-strong private Facebook group “Organise Corbyn Inspired…

Britain’s top general says you can’t face down Putin on the cheap — [This article appeared on my Substack newsletter — Conflict & Democracy — yesterday for subscribers. Amid the Twitter rationing/outage I’m releasing it also here 24 hours later.] The omens are not good for Britain’s forthcoming Defence Command Paper. General Sir Patrick Sanders, chief of the general staff, is to quit…

Stop The War movement finds yet another reason to tell Ukraine to stop resisting… — Putin’s regime is in danger of collapse therefore Ukraine should stop fighting…That’s the message from Stop The War. Having been struck dumb by the events of Saturday 24 June, the campaign has finally come out with a line, penned by self-styled Ukraine expert Andrew Murray. Because there’s a danger Russia’s…

Prigozhin mutiny creates political fragmentation bomb — Putin blinked. Prigozhin gets to run his neo-colonial crime empire from Belarus. Some generals will be fired. The war goes on. That’s the appearance. But what is the essence? I’ve been depressed by the incapacity of the Western media to cope with the reality of Russian fascism over the past…

Prigozhin’s troops seize Rostov and regime looks paralysed. Updates follow. — As I write, Russian Telegram channels are flooded with videos of Wagner Group detachments staging a coup in Rostov. In Voronezh they’ve reportedly exchanged fire with regular forces; in others, paramilitaries at checkpoints designed to stop them are shown hiding as they pass. UPDATE 05:37 CET: Putin has still not…

The logic of gigantic evil — Vienna lecture text — This is the text of a lecture to the Lecture to mark the 30th anniversary of @IFK_Vienna — the International Research Center for Cultural Studies, University of Art and Design Linz, delivered 14 June 2023. Some of the slides are in text… Good evening and congratulations to the IFK on…

I love this drama but there’s a missing character…. — Note: This article contains some plot spoilers for Season 4 of Babylon Berlin. I just rewatched the Season 4 of Babylon Berlin. Dramatically it’s one of the best seasons yet, because one of the most basic tensions in the narrative arc is resolved; and some of the good guys (and…

Germany’s refusal to supply Leopard 2s is a disaster — Germany’s decision to block the large-scale transfer of Western-built main battle tanks to Ukraine will, like all its previous hesitations, eventually be eroded. But it’s a blow — not just to Ukraine, but to NATO and the collective Western response to Russian aggression. [UPDATE 23.01.23: Annalena Baerbock has given Poland…