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Iran’s dangerous game

Oct 20, 2024 | thespectator.com | Limor Simhony Philpott |Europe Why Ireland |Ian O’Doherty |Arash Azizi

A drone exploded in a sleepy Israeli seaside town yesterday. The target of the attack was Benjamin Netanyahu. By luck, the drone missed its target — Netanyahu’s home — and no one was hurt in the explosion. Hezbollah launched three drones from Lebanon toward Caesarea. Two were shot down by the Israeli Defense Forces but, worryingly, the third arrived undetected.
The return of Stalin worship to Russia

Oct 20, 2024 | thespectator.com | Europe Why Ireland |Ian O’Doherty |Sergey Radchenko |Mark Galeotti

As if the Russian political barometer hasn’t fallen low enough, news comes that it has yet to reach the bottom of the glass. Official symbolism is a reliable indicator of trends, and an announcement by Georgi Filimonov this week marks a new low. Filimonov, recently appointed as governor of Vologda province, plans to erect a life-sized statue of dictator Joseph Stalin in the provincial capital. Not to denounce him but to “commemorate” him.
Ireland, the most anti-Israel country in Europe

Oct 20, 2024 | thespectator.com | Ian O’Doherty |Europe Why Ireland |Sergey Radchenko |Frank Lawton

Is Ireland the most antisemitic country in Europe? Most Irish people would vehemently disagree. But if you asked: “is Ireland the most anti-Israeli country in Europe?” then many people here would actually take the question as a compliment. Hating Israel is not just acceptable in Ireland; it has become virtually mandatory. The latest evidence for this took place at a county council meeting in Dublin on October 7, the anniversary of the Hamas pogrom.
Why has India’s market for luxury watches skyrocketed?

Oct 13, 2024 | thespectator.com | Jawad Iqbal |Europe Why Ireland |Ian O’Doherty |Sergey Radchenko

Here’s a question: what do crazy rich Indians want more than anything? The answer appears to be luxury watches, and the more the merrier. From January to July of this year, Swiss watch exports to India were up 20 percent compared with the same period in 2023, and up more than 41 percent compared with the same period in 2022, according to the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry.
Why the world fell for Marilyn Monroe

Apr 15, 2024 | thespectator.com | Julie Burchill |Ian Williams |Europe Why Ireland |Ian O’Doherty

What do we talk about when we talk about Marilyn Monroe? Sex, death and everything in between. Unlike other legendary film stars from Garbo to Bardot, Monroe has become (to use that awful and over-popular word) “iconic” — which is “problematic” in itself. Being recognizable as a hank of blonde hair and a white dress failing to preserve her dignity dehumanizes Marilyn — and we know that being treated as a “thing” contributed towards her terminal sorrow.
An insider’s account of the Chinese government's stranglehold on history

Apr 15, 2024 | thespectator.com | Ian Williams |Europe Why Ireland |Ian O’Doherty |Cindy Yu

All families have secrets, but few family histories are classified by the state. After the death of Snow’s father, his study is cleared out by officials from the Chinese Communist Party; but Snow discovers letters and unmarked hard drives hidden in hollowed-out dictionaries that they’d missed. The material reveals that her father was a high-ranking intelligence officer in the party, handpicked to build China’s intelligence service after the founding of the new People’s Republic.
Why the fate of a rusting Philippine ship matters in US-China relations

Apr 15, 2024 | thespectator.com | Ian Williams |Europe Why Ireland |Ian O’Doherty |Alexander Larman

The rusting and disintegrating hulk of a former Second World War landing ship has become an unlikely but dangerous flashpoint in US-China relations. The Sierra Madre, built for the US navy to land tanks, has for several decades been stranded on a shoal in the South China Sea. But now it has become a symbol of Beijing’s growing aggression in the region and its disdain for international law.
Why Ireland is going to recognize a Palestinian state

Apr 15, 2024 | thespectator.com | Ian O’Doherty |Alexander Larman |Ben Domenech |Europe Why Ireland

When the Irish foreign minister Micheal Martin recently stood up and announced to the Dail that Ireland would officially recognize a Palestinian state “within a matter of weeks,” there were no sharp intakes of breath or fits of fainting in the chamber. Irish political parties have long been relatively united in their calls for full recognition of a Palestinian state. But this was the first time there had been an explicit statement of intent, and within a specific timeline.