Trump’s ambiguity is the worst of all worlds

He supports Europe enough to make it complacent but not enough to make it safe

thursday 30

Janan Ganesh

Why bad ideas are always with us

Tariffs, Nimbyism, high debt — the victims of these things don’t even know what they’re losing

14.08.2025 10

Janan Ganesh

The high summer of Donald Trump

In all likelihood, it is downhill for the US president from here

07.08.2025 7

Janan Ganesh

Britain is not a broken society

The country has serious problems but the right’s vision of it has become hysterical

30.07.2025 50

Janan Ganesh

The world is run by old men in a hurry

The advanced age of leaders is a destabilising force in international politics

24.07.2025 40

Janan Ganesh

Trump and Maga are no longer the same thing

A summer of splits shows what post-Trump conservatism will look like

17.07.2025 20

Janan Ganesh

Britain, France and the necessary relationship

In a war-footing Europe, London-Paris might become what Paris-Berlin was in the era of peace

10.07.2025 10

Janan Ganesh

Keir Starmer is preferable to his party

The UK prime minister is weak but Labour MPs are deluded about fiscal reality

02.07.2025 4

Janan Ganesh

America’s retreat from the world stalls again

The bombing of Iran suggests that a global role is a hard thing to give up

26.06.2025 10

Janan Ganesh

Only a crisis will wean the west off debt

The British state in particular is unreformable without pressure from the bond markets

13.06.2025 20

Janan Ganesh

Biden has become a scapegoat for the Democrats

The party’s real problem is a consistent tolerance of obvious losers

04.06.2025 10

Janan Ganesh

The myth of Maga’s isolationism

From South Africa to Europe, the movement is absolutely obsessed with foreign countries

28.05.2025 7

Janan Ganesh

Britain will be negotiating with Europe forever

Like a poorer Switzerland, the UK will never find a happy balance of independence and access

21.05.2025 10

Janan Ganesh

Labour has given up its growth mission

Having said it was paramount, the UK government now has half a dozen ‘number one’ priorities

14.05.2025 10

Janan Ganesh

Take no comfort from America’s Trump backlash

The revolt against him isn’t huge, and it isn’t about constitutional principle

07.05.2025 10

Janan Ganesh

Wanted: a mean liberal

Mark Carney shows how to be moderate in substance and populist in style

04.05.2025 40

Janan Ganesh

Canada is a warning to Britain’s Trump-loving Tories

The Conservatives must choose between their US obsession and their electoral viability

30.04.2025 20

Janan Ganesh

There is no such thing as a Trump whisperer

Western leaders who are said to be on special terms with the US president have nothing to show for it

23.04.2025 3

Janan Ganesh

Donald Trump’s gift to globalisation

Not since the crash of 2008 has free trade held the moral and intellectual high ground

16.04.2025 20

Janan Ganesh

The hopeless search for Trump’s cunning plan

Attempts to read grand strategy into the US president’s doings have run their course

09.04.2025 5

Janan Ganesh

Europe is only half-awake from its long sleep

Talk of Donald Trump bringing the continent together is absurdly premature

19.03.2025 10

Janan Ganesh

Recession will not make Trump change course

A president who can’t run again is freer from public opinion than business seems to realise

12.03.2025 5

Janan Ganesh

Europe must trim its welfare state to build a warfare state

There is no way of defending the continent without cuts to social spending

05.03.2025 20

Janan Ganesh

The Tories discover that Britain is located in Europe

The lesson of this world-changing month is that geography matters — despite what the Brexit campaign claimed

26.02.2025 50

Janan Ganesh

Tariffs won’t bring back America’s unipolar moment

Trade is wrongly blamed for the relative decline of the US

12.02.2025 10

Janan Ganesh

The deceptively negotiable Donald Trump

The tariff row is further indication that he is quick to quarrel but also quick to settle

05.02.2025 8

Janan Ganesh

American and European populism don’t mix

Elon Musk will find the European right more statist than some progressives at home

29.01.2025 8

Janan Ganesh

The strange liberal nonchalance about Trump’s return

Having supposedly worried too much about him last time, people are overcorrecting

22.01.2025 10

Janan Ganesh

Britain should stop pretending it wants more economic growth

Almost everyone in politics has something they prioritise over it

15.01.2025 30

Janan Ganesh

Pity the middle-sized nations of the world

Small countries have the best outcomes, while the few giants shape the globe

08.01.2025 40

Janan Ganesh

Things have to get worse to get better

Voters can’t be sold on change until their nation is in acute trouble

01.01.2025 10

Janan Ganesh

Economics can’t explain all the anger of voters

If it did, the US should have much healthier politics than Europe

18.12.2024 8

Janan Ganesh

The western myth of the ‘guy we can do business with’

Assad, Putin, Gaddafi — the free world too often gets its hopes up about despots

11.12.2024 5

Janan Ganesh

America’s nightmare is two feral parties

The Democrats might decide that playing by the rules has got them nowhere

04.12.2024 20

Janan Ganesh

Musk is the right man in the wrong continent

Europe’s bloated governments need his efficiency revolution much more than Washington does

27.11.2024 4

Janan Ganesh

How Britain squandered the best hand in the world

Having had three friends in high places — the US, the EU and China — the UK contemplates life with none

20.11.2024 10

Janan Ganesh

How the Democrats can win in 2028

If the party changes, the US rightwing realignment won’t last

13.11.2024 10

Janan Ganesh

The Democrats threw away a winnable election

Harris was the wrong candidate, and the consequences could be global

06.11.2024 4

Janan Ganesh

How Trump learnt to love big business

Nothing separates the man from his 2016 self more than his disappearing qualms about capitalism

30.10.2024 3

Janan Ganesh

The tragedy of a 50-50 America

The era of western stability relied on dominant parties, and the US has none

23.10.2024 10

Janan Ganesh

The difference between Harris and Starmer

A cautious politician is easier to elect than an ambiguous one

16.10.2024 10

Janan Ganesh

US foreign policy is too volatile to lead the world

The swings between Democratic and Republican presidents weren’t so wild in America’s heyday

09.10.2024 2

Janan Ganesh

The China challenge isn’t bringing Americans together

There is none of the bipartisan spirit that the cold war brought to Washington

02.10.2024 4

Janan Ganesh

The end of the popular politician

A once-common type is vanishing from the west, and it is a problem of demand not supply

25.09.2024 10

Janan Ganesh

Why Europe will not catch up with the US

America has cultural and structural advantages that governments can’t close

18.09.2024 10

Janan Ganesh

A Trump loss could stabilise US politics for a generation

The lesson of 2024 so far is that American populists have no replacement for the former president’s star power

03.09.2024 10

Janan Ganesh

What Joe Biden got right

He managed the decline of American power much better than his recent predecessors

27.08.2024 3

Janan Ganesh

Kamala Harris should distance herself from Bidenomics

The US president’s high-spending protectionism is bad policy and worse politics

20.08.2024 3

Janan Ganesh

How Kamala Harris might still lose

Polling precedent and economic data suggest the Democrats shouldn’t get ahead of themselves

13.08.2024 10

Janan Ganesh

Trump’s embrace of Silicon Valley has rebounded on him

Much of the Republicans’ ‘weirdness’ stems from their new tech friends

06.08.2024 4

Categories

Sources

Popular

Trump’s ambiguity is the worst of all worlds

Janan Ganesh

Why bad ideas are always with us

Janan Ganesh

The high summer of Donald Trump

Janan Ganesh

Britain is not a broken society

Janan Ganesh

The world is run by old men in a hurry

Janan Ganesh

Trump and Maga are no longer the same thing

Janan Ganesh

Britain, France and the necessary relationship

Janan Ganesh

Keir Starmer is preferable to his party

Janan Ganesh

America’s retreat from the world stalls again

Janan Ganesh

Only a crisis will wean the west off debt

Janan Ganesh

Biden has become a scapegoat for the Democrats

Janan Ganesh

The myth of Maga’s isolationism

Janan Ganesh

Britain will be negotiating with Europe forever

Janan Ganesh

Labour has given up its growth mission

Janan Ganesh

Take no comfort from America’s Trump backlash

Janan Ganesh

Wanted: a mean liberal

Janan Ganesh

Canada is a warning to Britain’s Trump-loving Tories

Janan Ganesh

There is no such thing as a Trump whisperer

Janan Ganesh

Donald Trump’s gift to globalisation

Janan Ganesh

The hopeless search for Trump’s cunning plan

Janan Ganesh

Europe is only half-awake from its long sleep

Janan Ganesh

Recession will not make Trump change course

Janan Ganesh

Europe must trim its welfare state to build a warfare state

Janan Ganesh

The Tories discover that Britain is located in Europe

Janan Ganesh

Tariffs won’t bring back America’s unipolar moment

Janan Ganesh

The deceptively negotiable Donald Trump

Janan Ganesh

American and European populism don’t mix

Janan Ganesh

The strange liberal nonchalance about Trump’s return

Janan Ganesh

Britain should stop pretending it wants more economic growth

Janan Ganesh

Pity the middle-sized nations of the world

Janan Ganesh

Things have to get worse to get better

Janan Ganesh

Economics can’t explain all the anger of voters

Janan Ganesh

The western myth of the ‘guy we can do business with’

Janan Ganesh

America’s nightmare is two feral parties

Janan Ganesh

Musk is the right man in the wrong continent

Janan Ganesh

How Britain squandered the best hand in the world

Janan Ganesh

How the Democrats can win in 2028

Janan Ganesh

The Democrats threw away a winnable election

Janan Ganesh

How Trump learnt to love big business