It is a dynamic that operates in contravention of the simple, comforting and wrong principle that two democracies have never gone to war against each other. The conflict between Israel and the people of Gaza is driven by democratic impulses. Hamas, t...

This was the year in which Robert Mugabe and his Zanu-PF regime abandoned any pretence of governing legitimately. After a violent election campaign descended into all-out thuggery, forcing Morgan Tsvangirai of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC)...

There was, of course, his cabinet and the legislation it was dramatically poised to enact the moment Inauguration Day was passed. There was the continuing fallout from the scandal of weaselly Governor Blagojevich. Joining them came accounts of Mrs Ob...

Yet this anger was underscored by a fervent belief in justice. From his early psychological dramas to the late political plays, the imaginary world he created is unspeakably unjust. His characters say and do horrendous things to each other and get aw...

I nervously asked him over for lunch with his wife, Antonia Fraser, (well, we did live round the corner). I made Irish stew as a nod to the play. They were easy, charming and fascinating together. We talked about how our five-year-old daughter Matild...

Quite apart from the job losses and bankruptcies which are already beginning to affect most economies, there must be the fear that the crisis could create new conflicts, and worsen existing ones. Russia and China are two countries where breakneck eco...

A mystery of social networking sites is why the threshold for friendship is so much lower than in the real world. So Conservative strategists should be seriously worried that their £500,000 campaign to build an army of 'friends' has drawn only one...