Kiev has de facto lost control over Crimea and parts of its east. The way forward is not to fight to get them back by force, however, but to win them back by demonstrating that a pro-EU orientation brings with it prosperity. The West must help make this a reality.

Adrian Wooldridge and John Micklethwait have written a compelling new book on rethinking the state. Its only weakness is its somewhat narrow understanding of freedom in terms of a kind of consumerist individualism.

Who will replace Catherine Ashton as Europe’s foreign policy chief? Europe’s heads of state have an opportunity to back a strong figure, someone to personify and give strategic coherence to the EU’s foreign policy instruments.

When it comes to responding to Russia’s aggression in Ukraine, Europe is caught between corporate interests, regional security differences, and thoroughly postmodern publics. But the United States can still help clear up the allies’ strategic confusion.

Another defeat for Kemalism: French Canadians roundly rejected a draconian new law preventing all state employees from exhibiting “conspicuous religious symbols” at work.

What kind of culture war issue could ally Catholics and feminists against Evangelicals and gay rights advocates? Meet the “gestational carrier” for hire.

As the U.S. and Europe struggle to respond to Russian aggression in Ukraine, Moscow hopes to export its Orthodox-Nationalist ideology to Georgia—just as public cynicism towards Tbilisi’s pro-West political consensus is increasing.

We are witnessing a crisis of democracy around the world, in the sense that both established and newer democracies are finding their populations dissatisfied. But that doesn’t mean we should write democracy off completely either.

The much-lauded interim deal is not making a comprehensive agreement on Iran’s nuclear program more likely to be achieved.

Putin looks like he will continue to ride the tide he has set into motion for the time being. But amidst his tactical successes we can already see the signs of a looming strategic defeat.