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IRAN: IS THERE A CASE?
Will the US join Israel's attacks on Iran? Probably. Is there a legal case for the strikes? Probably not.

Paul Hansbury
Jun 217 min read
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IS PEACE IN UKRAINE CLOSE?
Following Trump and Zelenskyy's meeting in St Peter's Basilica, can we expect quick progress on peace talks?

Paul Hansbury
Apr 274 min read
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THE FACTUALITY WILL SET YOU FREE
Yale historian Timothy Snyder seeks to 'rescue' the word 'freedom' from its 'overuse and abuse' in the US.

Paul Hansbury
Apr 14 min read
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TRUMP'S CARDS
Will Trump's personal ambitions clash with the architects of US strategy? Is that strategy founded on good premises?

Paul Hansbury
Mar 811 min read
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AN AMERICAN DISGRACE
Trying to make sense of the slanging match in the Oval Office yesterday.

Paul Hansbury
Mar 15 min read
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PART II: WHAT SHOULD EUROPE DO?
Three millennia ago the Egyptian king Rameses II signed a peace treaty with the Hittite Empire after protracted warfare. The two kings...

Paul Hansbury
Feb 229 min read
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UKRAINE NEGOTIATIONS: HAS TRUMP REVEALED HIS HAND?
Trump and Putin spoke on the phone. The US president may be carrying on different negotiations from the ones reported. A contrarian's view.

Paul Hansbury
Feb 136 min read
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FRANCE VS. TELEGRAM: IS FREE SPEECH AT RISK?
The arrest of Telegram CEO Pavel Durov has prompted accusations of a curb on free speech. To my mind, the debate should be about privacy.

Paul Hansbury
Aug 27, 20246 min read
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DRONE ATTACK! WHAT WILL FUTURE WARS LOOK LIKE?
Drones and killer robots. The future of war is neither science fiction nor a computer game, only an ethical and legal dilemma.

Paul Hansbury
Aug 22, 20245 min read
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'ROOT AND BRANCH': DEFENCE REVIEW MUSTN'T GET TANGLED IN THE WEEDS
A few comments on the UK's Strategic Defence Review, which was announced earlier this week.

Paul Hansbury
Jul 18, 20245 min read
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PARSING JUDGEMENT #3: ON NATO AT 75
As NATO marks its 75-year anniversary, this new volume from Sten Rynning is a fitting appraisal of 'the world's most powerful alliance'.

Paul Hansbury
Jul 16, 20248 min read
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THE IDIOTS (I): A NOTE ON TRUMP AND CARLSON
Donald Trump is wrong to assert America's NATO allies 'free-ride'; his rhetoric damages the alliance more than inadequate spending.

Paul Hansbury
Feb 14, 20245 min read
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PEACE: DEAL OR NO DEAL?
Claims that Boris Johnson scuppered a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine last year aren't new, and probably aren't true.

Paul Hansbury
Jan 24, 20245 min read
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PARSING JUDGEMENT #2: RIGHTS AND WRONGS IN RUSSIA POLICY
Thomas Graham's new book on the United States' Russia policy will rile many readers, but it's a well-informed appraisal. Here's my review.

Paul Hansbury
Jan 3, 20245 min read
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A NOTE ON HENRY KISSINGER (1923–2023)
The death of Henry Kissinger came at a watershed moment for political realism in the context of the Russia-Ukraine war.

Paul Hansbury
Dec 15, 20235 min read
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SCEPTICISM TOWARDS 'PENTAGON SOURCES'
A spate of media stories, beginning a week and a half ago, suggested that Ukraine’s counteroffensive was ‘failing’. Then followed stories...

Paul Hansbury
Aug 28, 20237 min read
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PARSING JUDGEMENT #1: STORMTROOPERS IN UKRAINE
Yes, this really does involve Stormtroopers, but not quite yet. When I started this blog, one of my (many) ideas for content was to...

Paul Hansbury
Aug 16, 20234 min read
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REASONS TO STICK TO YOUR GUNS #1
US intelligence agencies, according to the New York Times, now think that a ‘pro-Ukrainian group’ sabotaged the Nord Stream gas pipelines...

Paul Hansbury
Mar 8, 20233 min read
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