A reflection on life and death
A different kind of column today. A personal one.
Not so long ago, I wrote about Albert Camus and the absurdity of life. This came back to haunt me when ...
Cyprus has no shortage of histories
Three recent books help explain why consensus on the nature of the Cyprus problem, let alone the solution, remains so difficult. And, perhaps, why dozens of UN diplomats have failed ...
Questionable activities and performance of Cyprus banks
Cyprus banking representatives recently visited European regulators in Brussels declaring that the island’s banks are “stronger than ever” citing impressive levels of key indicators on financial stability and profitability. ...
Labour’s answer is not yet another British coup
Burnham should bide his time
Former Manchester mayor Andy Burnham won the Makerfield by-election last Thursday by a huge majority, comfortably trouncing the far right of Nigel Farage’s Reform ...
Should I feel sorry for myself?
Are our complaints petty or real? A shoe mender I knew had a sign on his wall: I had no shoes and I felt sorry for myself until I met ...
Integrating energy and water planning
For decades, Cyprus has treated energy policy and water policy as largely separate issues. Energy planning focused on electricity generation, fuel imports and infrastructure development, while water planning focused on ...
What a long-term strategic energy plan should include
The question is no longer whether Cyprus needs a long-term energy plan. The question is what such a plan should include.
A successful energy strategy must provide a coherent framework ...
Why Cyprus needs a comprehensive, integrated and long-term energy plan
Recent warnings from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), concerns raised by the auditor-general and growing criticism from energy experts all point to the same conclusion: Cyprus urgently needs a comprehensive ...
East Med energy diplomacy returns to centre stage
The launch of the East Med Energy Center (Emec) in Houston this week and the revival of high-level regional energy diplomacy mark significant developments in East Med energy cooperation. The ...
Footballers’ fear of penalty shootouts
When Arsenal football club lost 4-3 on penalties to Paris Saint Germain (PSG) in the European Champions final in Budapest two weeks ago the question no England fan dared ask ...
The Cypriot defence pivot: a strategic illusion
The June 2026 Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) between Cyprus and France, and the 2024–2029 US–Cyprus Defence Roadmap, mark a radical departure from Nicosia’s historic military neutrality. While Cyprus hopes ...
Netanyahu does what he always does: makes minor concessions
“The war is over,” US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told Congress last Tuesday, but it isn’t.
In the Persian Gulf there is a sort-of ceasefire between the United ...
Beyond rhetoric: the remaking of the Eastern Mediterranean
The sharp exchanges between Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Benjamin Netanyahu are real. The language is harsh. At times, extreme.
It is tempting to dismiss them as political posturing aimed at ...
Two comedians, Cyprus and the journey back to our humanity
Lawrence Durrell begins his book Bitter Lemons with one of the most memorable reflections on travel ever written: “Journeys, like artists, are born and not made.” The best journeys, he ...
Only the murderer is to blame for the way Henry Nowak died
The arrest and handcuffing of murder victim Henry Nowak by police officers in Southampton in the UK last December and the political fallout after the conviction of the young British ...
Corrupt youth and productive ageing
Attitudes of misogynistic men have seeped like a virus from a fetid swamp to infiltrate the body of hard-won female equality. These men don’t see themselves as crude throwbacks ...
Greece is poised to become energy gateway for southeast Europe and the East Med
Chevron has just filed a request to acquire a 70 per cent stake in offshore Block 10 in the Ionian Sea that is expected to be granted by Greece. The following examines ...
Searching for meaning in an absurd world
I had the chance to revisit my younger self the other day when I watched François Ozon’s adaptation of Albert Camus’ classic L’Étranger. The film – titled The ...
No seat at the table: Europe absent from Trump-Xi dialogue
The recent meeting between the presidents of the United States and China marks a phase of “managed stability,” in which competition continues but with mechanisms designed to prevent escalation. For ...
From theory to summit diplomacy
During President Donald Trump’s recent visit to Beijing, President Xi Jinping invoked the Thucydides Trap directly in his discussion with the American president.
Its use, for the first time ...
Keeping the red flag flying
There are still a number of communist parties active in the world, among them those in China and Cyprus, which, in their different ways kept the red flag flying after ...
Iran: The curious absence of nuclear weapons
Tulsi Gabbard, the recently resigned/retired/fired US Director of National Intelligence, told Congress just two months ago that US intelligence agencies had concluded Iran was not building nuclear weapons. ...
Three reinforcing forces why nobody stopped the Iran war
Thursday, February 26. Around 5pm, the final Situation Room meeting got underway. The positions of everyone in the room were already known before they sat down.
Trump went around the table.
...
Arms and the men who lead us
Lara Marlowe has written on art and politics in France, a country she knows extremely well, she has reported from Washington, and covered wars in Lebanon and Ukraine, she knows ...