LONDON — It’s spring in the Northern Hemisphere. Flowers are starting to bloom, as the sun shines brighter and longer each day. When it comes to world affairs, however, the outlook is hardly rosy.In the Middle East, Israel has threatened military action against Syria and Iran.

After US President Donald Trump’s recent visit to China, it can only be a matter of time before right-wing media outlets like Breitbart News and Fox News suggest that he should take a page from President Xi Jinping’s playbook, despite the overwhelmingly Leninist nature of its con

An anecdote about US president Richard Nixon’s visit to China in 1972 has long been regarded as confirmation of the long view of history taken by Chinese leaders.Zhou Enlai, Mao’s dutiful number two, is said to have responded to a question about the lessons of the French Revoluti

While I was governor of Hong Kong, from 1992 until the handover of the city to China in 1997, I kept a diary.Consulting that diary over the last few months, as I write a book partly about my experience there, I have discovered several passages describing China’s “struggle” school

As I strolled through Paris the other day, the air was warm, the sky was blue and I felt like I was in the best of all possible worlds.As always, Paris looked elegant and exuded confidence and cheerfulness.France had just elected a clever, young, handsome and brave new president,

As Britain formally triggers the doleful negotiations to exclude itself from the mainstream of European politics and economics, Prime Minister Theresa May refuses to use the word “divorce” to describe what is happening.My wife, a retired family lawyer and mediator, thinks May cou

I am old enough to remember when the best thing about populism was that it was not popular.Nativism, in any form, did not hit many political bull’s-eyes.

When US President-elect Donald Trump takes office later this month, Americans will be more divided than they have been in years.Never before has an American presidential inauguration been met with so many hosannas from the United States’ oldest foe, Russia, and with such nervous

Nearly 40 years ago, when I visited Moscow for the first time, my initial reaction was surprise. The hotels and restaurants were so poorly run that it seemed shocking that the military could be run competently enough to pose a genuine threat to the Soviet Union’s adversaries