Others have said it better than me, but it bears repeating. The US had a narrow window of opportunity to shape the world at the turn of the millennium, before Russia reasserted itself and before China emerged on the global stage. That window is closing, and Washington’s panic is manifesting itself in ill-conceived proxy conflicts …   →

Historians usually talk about transitional or intermediate periods. These include ancient Egypt and the time between the different kingdoms. And the period between the Bronze Age and the Iron Age in Greece. Or the Middle Ages, which is the period between the Roman Empire and the Enlightenment, which is a lot of years, and a …   →

It was perfectly legitimate to criticise the Vietnam War, it almost developed into a popular movement over the years. And it was also right and proper to criticise George Bush and the wars in Afghanistan and, above all, Iraq. Even the wars in Libya and Syria can be questioned, there is nothing strange about that. …   →

Many see the conflict in eastern Ukraine as an outright Russian occupation, ignoring the possible right of ethnic Russian regions to self-rule or secession. Ukraine is seen as a normal democratic Western country, while the Russians are the undemocratic aggressors, using the Russian minority as leverage for their imperialist ambitions. If, for various reasons, one …   →

Nord Stream consists of several pipelines running under the Baltic Sea, connecting Germany with Russia and supplying Europe with large quantities of natural gas. The project was both expensive and controversial because it increased the West’s dependence on the Kremlin, but at the same time gave us cheap and relatively clean energy. A few days …   →

I am amused by the myths and mysteries of the past. And today’s conspiracy theories can usefully be seen as our equivalent to these phenomena. Often there is some sort of basis for the ideas, but they are embroidered, and presented as if they were planned and put forward by a number of conspirators. This …   →

Archibald Iratus lived in an austere turn-of-the-century house along Jungfrugatan in Östermalm. A curious peculiarity of the address was its diffuse location. I could wander around for a long time before I found the unnumbered gate, and once last winter I even gave up and went home. It was as if the house itself or …   →

Already in January we knew about how the coronavirus (COVID-19) behaved, about how great the risk of death was for different age groups, and that a significant proportion of the sick needed intensive care, sometimes with a respirator. We also realized that if the infection spreads, our healthcare systems would not meet the need. The …   →

When I was a child, the future was full of hope, we were dreaming about travelling with hovering vessels between skyscrapers. And we believed that man would soon be exploring the stars. Nuclear power was risky, but it gave us a fantastic opportunity for infinite energy. And yes, mankind had many problems, but they would …   →