How will Europe’s reluctant warriors react to a stalemate? — With Macron, Scholz and Draghi all ruminating openly about a ceasefire in the Ukraine war, two maps tell the story of a potential endgame. The first (below) is the story of Russia’s strategic defeat… The yellow areas show the territory reconquered by Ukraine, after Putin’s attempt to conquer, partition and…

None — and it’s on repeat cycle, courtesy of the Morning Star — There’s a lot to suport in the 2008 Prague Declaration, though I don’t subscribe to the totalitarianism theory that inspired it. When it was authored, by the European centre right, it was about learning lessons from the past. Now we face a new totalitarianism. In the last 10 years, the…

Left Alliance leader confronts hard choices facing socialists — Finland’s decision to begin the process of joining NATO is a huge moment of change for Europe, and a moment of maturity for the left. The move is not only led by the social-democratic prime minister, Sanna Marin, but has seen Li Andersson, the leader of the radical left, overcome…

Putin’s strategy of tension on the Dniestr. Where? — In the past two days, there’ve been three explosions in the Russian-backed enclave of Transnistria, plus two missile strikes on a crucial Ukrainian rail bridge over the River Dniestr, causing the government of neighbouring Moldova to hold an emergency national security meeting. I last visited Transnistria in 2014, undercover, after…

Get out, or your army and economy will be toast — Last week, defence expert James Sherr challenged Western governments to come up with a definition of success in the Russia-Ukraine conflict. They’ve moved away from “crisis management”, Sherr noted, and begun to supply heavy weapons, but had yet to come up with a strategic goal. Yesterday, the USA came up…