Erdogan’s strategy is quite clear. He says he is going to create a 'safe zone' in northern Syria by driving the 'Kurdish terrorists' out.

If Boris Johnson could engineer an emergency, he could ignore the 'surrender bill' (as he calls it) that forces him to seek an extension rather than crash out on Oct. 31.

Beijing's relative restraint is evidence of how worried it is.

Air forces are run by pilots, and they like to fly planes, but what happened in Saudi Arabia two weeks ago will finally give the civilian authorities arguments that the aviators cannot resist or ignore.

Donald Trump doesn’t want a full-scale war with Iran, and neither does Saudi Arabia. It probably won’t happen.

Maybe Jonathan Franzen will get over it too, eventually, but at the moment he thinks we’re doomed, and all we can do is little things to slow the apocalypse down a bit, and relish the brief time we have left.

Deeply unpopular at home, Turkey's strongman has a new plan to appeal to his critics: he’s going to move a million Kurds away from Turkey’s southern frontier with Syria, and replace them with a million Arabs.

Many Italians are sick to death of the country’s political and economic stagnation, and Salvini was brash and new. Nasty and bullying, too, especially towards non-whites and migrants, but many people didn’t mind that.

The reality is, Boris Johnson's move to prorogue parliament will only cut six working days from the schedule.

Brazil's president, Jair Bolsonaro, is definitely the icing on the cake, but it’s questionable how much impact he has had after less than eight months in power

A guaranteed minimum income and geo-engineering the climate may be the only ways to prevent a catastrophe.

Greenlanders face a choice between trying to preserve what is left of the old Arctic culture, or seeking salvation in full modernization through high-speed economic growth.

Betraying the Kurds is a Middle Eastern tradition, and the United States does not want war with Turkey.

Japan recently has removed South Korea from its 'whitelist' of countries that are allowed to buy goods that can be diverted for military use with minimal restrictions.

There is going to be a war over this. Certainly another war in Kashmir, where tens of thousands of people were killed in the last uprising against Indian rule. Maybe also another war between India and Pakistan.

Deal the Chinese in. Beijing doesn’t want to live with 10 minutes’ warning time either. It would probably sign up to the INF terms provided that the U.S. and Russia were willing to grant it parity in other weapons.

Should we advertise our existence and publish our address to the cosmos, or is that just asking for trouble? Many of the scientists present backed a declaration that a 'worldwide scientific, political and humanitarian discussion must occur before any message is sent.'

The rule of law still exists in Hong Kong, but nobody would be safe if they could be extradited to the People’s Republic at Beijing’s whim.

There’s rather a lot at stake, including the 300-year-old union, and the man in charge is the farthest thing imaginable from a safe pair of hands.

It’s all connected. The Earth’s temperature, the oxygen content of the atmosphere, all the qualities that make it a welcoming home for abundant life are maintained by the actions and interactions of living things.

Boris Johnson, who is poised to win the Conservative leadership, may be the last prime minister of a genuinely united kingdom, writes columnist Gwynne Dyer.

There is movement towards peace in Afghanistan—or at least towards an end to the American military ordeal there, which has lasted for almost 18 years. The only losers in the settlement will be the Afghans, who have to live under Taliban rule again. But that was always going to happen in the end.

Two showbiz figures, complete novices in politics, trying to run a country of 44 million people (which, by the way, is in a proxy war with Russia). What could possibly go wrong? 

Borders will start slamming shut in the countries, mostly in the temperate zone of the planet, where the climate is still tolerable and there is still enough food to eat.