David Blair's Blog, page 4

Is Tony Blair responsible for all Iraq's bloodshed? The truth is more complicated, and less comforting

I n former years, Karrada was a largely Christian area of Baghdad. Today, the district on the east bank of the Tigris is mainly Shia, but it still clings to a semblance of religious diversity. That is why the Sunni zealots of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant...

Yes, even in this disputatious age, humanity can come together for good

A nyone who was at school in the 1980s will remember learning how everyday items, like fridges and deodorants, turned out to be inflicting untold damage. The chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) lurking inside these apparently harmless objects were killing off the ozone layer in the earth���s atmosphere , destroying our protection from...

With one vote, Britain has overturned the basis of 60 years of European statecraft

W hen Harold Macmillan���s ambition to take Britain into Europe was derailed by France���s veto in 1963, he wrote in his diary: ���All our policies at home and abroad are in ruins���.

The Brexit clock has yet to start ticking, but there are limits to the EU's patience

J ust as St Augustine pleaded with God to make him virtuous ���but not just yet���, so Britain���s Leave campaigners are in no rush to depart the EU.

How Britain can build a new role for itself in the world

T he battle has been lost and won; the hurlyburly���s done. Among the multitude of questions that now contend for pride of place, one is in danger of being overlooked : how to preserve as much British influence abroad as possible after the country leaves the European Union?

We may not have been looking, but the world���s become even more dangerous

T he passengers on the minibus were innocent Nepalis with no possible connection to Afghanistan���s war, but the Taliban suicide bomber did not care. He proceeded to kill 14 Himalayan villagers who were in the country to work as security guards.

From Congo's vice-president to prisoner serving 18 years for war crimes: the downfall of Jean-Pierre Bemba

A former vice-president of the Democratic Republic of Congo completed a transition from political leader to convicted prisoner on Tuesday when he received an 18-year sentence for crimes against humanity.

Those dissident US diplomats are right: only America can break the bloodsoaked stalemate in Syria

I t is a sign of wisdom that the US State Department possesses a ���dissent channel���, allowing diplomats to voice their reservations about official policy. And it���s evidence of profound unease when a ���dissenting cable��� over Syria should attract no less than 51 signatures, the biggest number since this method...

Europe plans to spend extra ��30 billion on defence in 'sharp reversal' of years of cuts

E uropean countries will begin a ���sharp reversal��� of decades of defence cuts by spending an extra ��30 billion on their armed forces by 2019, a new study has found.

Iran accuses British mother, Nazanin Ratcliffe, of leading 'hostile network' to 'overthrow' regime

I ran���s regime has accused of a British mother of plotting to ���overthrow the Islamic Republic���, offering its first explanation for why the woman has been detained.