Frederick the Great of Prussia was a friend of Voltaire’s and enjoyed ribald evenings with the philosopher, discussing the intricacies of life’s dos and don’ts.Before becoming king, he was persuaded by Voltaire to become a pacifist.

“The best lack all conviction”, wrote Irish poet William Yeats, “while the worst are full of passionate intensity.”Is this not true of America today?Some of the “best” are working to bring down President Donald Trump, yet are they ready to cut to the chase?He has cards up his sle

It was all smiles out on the range last week when, against a deep blue sky, an American interceptor rocket took out an incoming “enemy” long-range, missile (which in a real attack would be carrying a nuclear warhead).Generals and congressmen and women jumped for joy.But what was

In a maudlin sort of way, there is a funny story that Zbigniew Brzezinski, who died on Friday, sometimes told about when he was national security adviser to president Jimmy Carter.It was his job to take any calls from the military on a suspected incoming nuclear attack.

Donald Trump is the antithesis of leadership.Walking into the cauldron of the Middle East and denouncing Iran when it had just — almost at the same moment — reelected as president a man who presided over the deal that de-fanged his country’s nuclear programme and whose support is

During the French presidential election, no candidate talked about France’s nuclear weapons.In Britain, the subject has been raised in its election in an attempt to undermine the Labour Party leader, Jeremy Corbyn.But the long-time anti-bomb activist compromised his views, saying

Does anyone, however well-informed, know what President Donald Trump thinks about President Vladimir Putin?I hazard a guess that he is still more pro than anti, only he does not quite know where to begin.It is time overdue that they met and hammered out on the anvil what their mu

 Last May, a court in Senegal convicted Hissene Habre, the former ruler of Chad, and sentenced him to life imprisonment for torture and crimes against humanity.On Thursday last, an appeals court upheld the sentence and now Habre, who ran from Chad after a coup in a military

The result of the first round of the French presidential election has given the Euro-pessimists a knock over the head.About time too.The European Union is not going to face a break-up.