Briefing
A weary superpower
The world that the West built after Pearl Harbour is cracking
Not least because America is lukewarm about preserving it
The wonky-spiked variant
Omicron looks ominous. How bad is it likely to be?
Much has been learnt about how to treat covid-19 and how to live with it
The menace of midsized meddlers
As America retreats, regional rogues are on the rise
Smaller menaces are throwing their weight around more brazenly than ever before
A hard trend to buck
Governments are not going to stop getting bigger
Some factors which drive the process are eternal and some are getting stronger
Manacled in Moscow
Vladimir Putin has shifted from autocracy to dictatorship
And Russians across the country are feeling the heat
Stuck in place
The Democrats’ social-spending package cannot repair the American Dream
Social mobility has dropped precipitously
African odyssey
Many more Africans are migrating within Africa than to Europe
Some governments are trying to make moving easier
A very big balancing act
Creating the new hydrogen economy is a massive undertaking
It is also a delicate one
Who’s up, who’s down?
The decline of Britain’s stockmarket should be seen in a broader historical context
The historical context of the City of London’s slump