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Gideon Rachman

Gideon Rachman

Financial Times

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The nuclear arms race is back

War in Ukraine and China’s military build-up have put the world’s deadliest weapons back at the centre of global politics

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Financial Times

Gideon Rachman

The far right can win in Europe but it struggles to govern

The continent’s political future could be defined by a never-ending struggle between the centre and the radical right

04.11.2025 20

Financial Times

Gideon Rachman

Trump, Xi and the danger for Taiwan

The US president has unnerved Taiwan. But the island can still resist Beijing

28.10.2025 40

Financial Times

Gideon Rachman

China is well positioned for a trade showdown with Trump

Rare earths are not the only Chinese product that America would struggle to replace

21.10.2025 40

Financial Times

Gideon Rachman

Why peace in the Middle East may still be elusive

A ceasefire and hostage release are cause for celebration. But big questions remain about the rest of the Trump plan

14.10.2025 4

Financial Times

Gideon Rachman

The dangers of war in the grey zone

Russia’s resort to hybrid warfare is a sign of weakness. But it still requires a response

07.10.2025 20

Financial Times

Gideon Rachman

Trump goes mainstream on the Middle East

The Gaza Riviera plan is off the table and a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine is back

30.09.2025 20

Financial Times

Gideon Rachman

Putin is playing a dangerous game with Nato

All is far from quiet on the alliance’s eastern front

23.09.2025 10

Financial Times

Gideon Rachman

How Ukraine and Gaza scrambled the ideological map

The two wars have divided the west — and not along the old left-right lines

16.09.2025 20

Financial Times

Gideon Rachman

Ukraine and the coalition of the unwilling

Europe’s Trump-whisperers might get the US to tighten Russia sanctions and increase aid to Kyiv, but they still need a plan B

09.09.2025 30

Financial Times

Gideon Rachman

Trump’s fawning cabinet and the threat to US democracy

Strongman authoritarianism thrives on sycophancy

03.09.2025 40

Financial Times

Gideon Rachman

China has laid a rare earths trap for the west

The American military and Europe’s green transition both rely on critical minerals from Beijing

26.08.2025 3

Financial Times

Gideon Rachman

Russia, Ukraine and Europe are all trying to manipulate Trump

Kyiv and its western allies will attempt to turn the near disaster of Anchorage into a success

18.08.2025 10

Financial Times

Gideon Rachman

Zelenskyy in the lion’s den

European leaders need to get Trump off the dangerous path laid out for him by Putin

18.08.2025 20

Financial Times

Gideon Rachman

Trump, Putin and the future of Ukraine

There is a danger for both Kyiv and Europe that they lose sight of a strategic vision of where they want to get to

12.08.2025 40

Financial Times

Gideon Rachman

Nato’s summit cannot disguise Ukraine’s plight

Without more military aid, Kyiv’s situation on the battlefield could deteriorate rapidly

01.07.2025 40

Financial Times

Gideon Rachman

Trump’s fragile peace in the Middle East

Israel and Iran remain bitter enemies so this is more likely to be a pause in the fighting than a lasting peace

25.06.2025 10

Financial Times

Gideon Rachman

The perils of war with Iran

Tehran’s grand strategy has failed, but that is no guarantee Israel and America can succeed

22.06.2025 5

Financial Times

Gideon Rachman

War on Iran is splitting Trump’s Maga movement

As a decision on involvement looms, some of the president’s most ardent supporters have turned against him

19.06.2025 50

Financial Times

Gideon Rachman

How the Israel-Iran war may develop

If Iran is losing a conventional conflict, there is a danger that it will resort to unconventional means of retaliation

17.06.2025 10

Financial Times

Gideon Rachman

What Musk can learn from Ma and Khodorkovsky

In a power struggle between a national leader and a billionaire, the politician always comes out on top

10.06.2025 40

Financial Times

Gideon Rachman

Trump always chickens out on foreign policy too

Despite his rhetoric about fire and fury, the president is nervous about the use of force

02.06.2025 4

Financial Times

Gideon Rachman

Europe needs to keep up the pressure on Netanyahu

France and Britain have helped protect Israel from its enemies, but they should not defend the indefensible

26.05.2025 10

Financial Times

Gideon Rachman

Putin thinks that time is on his side

Russia has little interest in peace talks. It is hoping for battlefield breakthroughs and sanctions relief

19.05.2025 9

Financial Times

Gideon Rachman

Trump and the art of the international peace deal

When you’re running a superpower, you can’t just ignore the outside world

12.05.2025 10

Financial Times

Gideon Rachman

Why the EU beats Trump at the art of the deal

The mayhem of Mar-a-Lago is less effective than the boredom of Brussels

05.05.2025 20

Financial Times

Gideon Rachman

How Ukraine could break the western alliance

The US and Europe have fundamentally different views on the threat from Russia and the protection of democracy

28.04.2025 7

Financial Times

Gideon Rachman

Trump, Vance and the attack on American universities

The White House’s charge of antisemitism is a cynical tactic to pursue a broader attack on academic freedom

21.04.2025 10

Financial Times

Gideon Rachman

Why Xi holds a stronger hand than Trump

The White House has miscalculated the balance of power in its tariff war with China

14.04.2025 30

Financial Times

Gideon Rachman

Trump and the mob boss approach to global markets

The US president discovers that it is easier to shake down a law firm than to reshape the international trading system

07.04.2025 10

Financial Times

Gideon Rachman

Lessons from Russia, Turkey and India for Trump’s America

Fighting for democracy can be a lonely and dangerous business

31.03.2025 30

Financial Times

Gideon Rachman

Trump’s economic and political threat to Mexico

The US would suffer from the blowback if it impoverished its southern neighbour

24.03.2025 10

Financial Times

Gideon Rachman

How Trump could destroy his own political movement

The US president and his followers are entering new and dangerous territory

17.03.2025 10

Financial Times

Gideon Rachman

Trump is making Europe great again

The US president has provided the biggest stimulus towards European integration since the end of the cold war

10.03.2025 20

Financial Times

Gideon Rachman

Europe has bought Zelenskyy some time

The big question remains whether Ukraine can survive without American assistance

03.03.2025 30

Financial Times

Gideon Rachman

Trump wants a world safe for autocracy

Europe will have to defend liberal democracy without American support

24.02.2025 10

Financial Times

Gideon Rachman

Vance’s real warning to Europe

Europeans need to reduce their dangerous dependence on an adversarial America

17.02.2025 20

Financial Times

Gideon Rachman

Trump, Putin, Xi and the new age of empire

The leaders of America, Russia and China are now all committed to territorial expansion

10.02.2025 70

Financial Times

Gideon Rachman

Trump is sowing the seeds of an anti-American alliance

By targeting allies and neighbours with tariffs, the US is playing into the hands of China

03.02.2025 70

Financial Times

Gideon Rachman

What the global south gets wrong about Trump

A world without rules is one in which the strong prey upon the weak

27.01.2025 6

Financial Times

Gideon Rachman

Trump and the contest between two visions of democracy

His return to power has been fuelled by the belief of many Americans that their political system has failed

20.01.2025 10

Financial Times

Gideon Rachman

What the Israel-Hamas ceasefire means for the world

While the Israelis emerge from the conflict as the Middle East’s superpower, the international rules-based order lies in tatters

16.01.2025 10

Financial Times

Gideon Rachman

Trump risks turning the US into a rogue state

Territorial expansionism and threats to neighbours and allies should set off alarm bells across the world

13.01.2025 10

Financial Times

Gideon Rachman

Putin plus Trump spell trouble for European security

German rearmament is crucial to shoring up Europe’s defences

06.01.2025 40

Financial Times

Gideon Rachman

Year in a word: Fascism

The right-wing ideology is no longer confined to the dark underbelly of history

29.12.2024 30

Financial Times

Gideon Rachman

The world’s leading democracies are struggling to govern

Across the G7, the political centre is fracturing and Donald Trump will make the problem worse

23.12.2024 8

Financial Times

Gideon Rachman

Netanyahu and Erdoğan compete to be the Middle East’s strongman

Turkey and Israel move to take advantage of the fall of the Assad regime in Syria

16.12.2024 10

Financial Times

Gideon Rachman

Assad’s fall is a moment of hope and opportunity 

Lots could still go wrong in Syria but the demise of one of the world’s most cruel dictators is welcome

09.12.2024 6

Financial Times

Gideon Rachman

The tainted legacy of the Merkel-Obama years

A failure to respond to Russian, Chinese and Syrian aggression helped to create the unstable world of today

02.12.2024 5

Financial Times

Gideon Rachman

Israel will split the western alliance

Destroying the International Criminal Court is not in America’s interests

25.11.2024 5

Financial Times

Gideon Rachman