• OPINION

  Merkel's lacklustre win is good for the nation

  News, Leonid Bershidsky, Published on 26/09/2017

  » The sour faces of German Chancellor Angela Merkel's allies after the first exit poll results for the federal election were announced on Sunday night will prompt much talk of a Pyrrhic victory for Ms Merkel. But the outcome of Sunday's election could be good both for her and for German democracy: It has clarified the options for the next governing coalition, and it has made sure there will be vocal opposition to the government from both the left and the right.

• OPINION

  Vladimir Putin struggles with enthusiasm problem

  News, Leonid Bershidsky, Published on 15/09/2017

  » According to the Daily Beast's latest scoop, "a Russian operative" used Facebook to organise an anti-Muslim event in Twin Falls, Idaho, that attracted a grand total of four people. Inside Russia, the Kremlin appears to have a similar inability to stoke crowds.

• OPINION

  Turnover tax on global technology giants is sheer folly

  News, Leonid Bershidsky, Published on 20/09/2017

  » Ten European Union countries' finance ministers have signed a letter calling for a tax on the revenues of multinational tech companies that have been hiding away their European profits. But European leaders should proceed with caution, because a turnover levy may not be the best solution to this multi-billion-dollar problem.

• OPINION

  Facebook too big a platform to allow fake users

  News, Leonid Bershidsky, Published on 10/08/2017

  » There's something in common between the amazing story of "Nicole Mincey", the pseudonymous Twitter user with 146,000 followers who was retweeted by US President Donald Trump and then disappeared overnight along with a few other online personae, and a recent prank by a Berliner frustrated with his inability to get Twitter to remove hate speech. The common element is the obvious solution to both problems, which rarely surfaces in discussions of trolling, fake news and cyberbullying.

• OPINION

  The UK should be very wary of a Trump trade deal

  News, Leonid Bershidsky, Published on 27/07/2017

  » President Donald Trump tweeted on Tuesday that he was working on a potentially "very big & exciting" trade deal with the UK that would shame the "very protectionist" European Union. He's right that such a deal could be politically advantageous for both governments. For UK consumers, though, it might deliver little more than chlorinated chicken.

• OPINION

  Brexit reversal? The EU should simply say 'no way'

  News, Leonid Bershidsky, Published on 03/08/2017

  » Though most UK politicians would have us believe that "Brexit is Brexit", European leaders have recently spoken of a reversal of the UK's decision to leave the European Union as a real possibility. That should be alarming to anyone who cares about continuing the EU's resurgence since the 2016 vote.

• OPINION

  The mundane radicalism of terror

  News, Leonid Bershidsky, Published on 22/06/2017

  » The UK tabloids hesitated about what to call the white driver of a van who crashed into a crowd of worshippers at the Finsbury Park mosque in London on Monday. But Harry Potter author JK Rowling tweeted furiously that he was no less a terrorist than the perpetrators of recent Islamic State-inspired attacks.

• OPINION

  The new Saudi Arabian heir is a dangerous man

  News, Leonid Bershidsky, Published on 23/06/2017

  » The abrupt change in Saudi Arabia's line of royal succession will probably help maintain the House of Saud's sway over its 31 million people, 70% of whom are under 30. It is, however, a dangerous move in the context of a new Big Game unfolding in the Middle East, which involves the US, Russia and local players.

• OPINION

  Why cold, hard cash remains king in the digital age

  News, Leonid Bershidsky, Published on 28/06/2017

  » We don't have to like the way technology is changing the world. Given the technological disruption happening everywhere, it's reasonable to expect a little Luddite pushback. The growing share of cash in advanced economies might fall in that category.

• OPINION

  EU rubber boat ban won't halt tide

  News, Leonid Bershidsky, Published on 20/07/2017

  » If it looks as though Europe is clutching at straws to stop hundreds, sometimes thousands, of migrants from crossing the Mediterranean into Italy every day, that's exactly what's happening. On Monday, the European Union's (EU) foreign ministers approved restrictions on the supply of inflatable boats and outboard motors to Libya.

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