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Just like Scotland, Britain needs its referendum too | Timothy Garton Ash
David Cameron wants devo max for Britain in Europe. His fear of direct democracy will land us with the worst of both worldsDavid Cameron may yet go down to history as the man who pushed Scotland away from England and England away from Europe. That wo...
Fear may well save the euro. Now for the politics of hope | Timothy Garton Ash
We must recognise that stability of the eurozone is no substitute for the larger project it was designed to usher inAngela Merkel came to Davos on Wednesday and, in a speech as solidly built as a Mercedes, once again assured the world's business lead...
In France, genocide has become a political brickbat | Timothy Garton Ash
Next week's bill on denial of Ottoman atrocities against Armenians is an attack on free speech, one of many around the worldNext Monday the French Senate is to vote on a bill that will criminalise denial of the Armenian genocide of 1915, along with a...
Cameron and co are deluded – it's cold on Europe's margins | Timothy Garton Ash
I fear my nightmare about England's direction may come true. In 10 years we'll beg the French (and Scots) to let us back inIf you see a fork in the road, take it! For 60 years, in its relations with Europe, Britain has been following Yogi Berra's adv...
Václav Havel: director of a play that changed history
The former president of the Czech Republic was the epitome of a dissident because he persisted in his struggle, patiently, non-violently, with dignity and witHands whirring like twin propellers, Václav Havel moved with his characteristic hurried, sh...
David Cameron's 'no' is bad for Britain and for Europe | Timothy Garton Ash
The EU will never be the same again. Britain has become more Swiss, but most of Europe's gone GermanIt was the day that Europe united. It was the day that Europe split. To save the euro, up to 26 members of the European Union are to join a fiscal com...
The eurozone crisis: a terrifying race to become a diminished world power | Timothy Garton Ash
To see off the bond markets, the eurozone has to create a credible sovereign – but that may divide the larger EUEurope will not be saved in Brussels this Friday. At best, it will live to face another trauma. After these "10 days to save the eu...
Dr Saif Gaddafi's LSE thesis makes a case for the action that crushed him | Timothy Garton Ash
Libya is a case of intervention justified by specific circumstances. Go beyond that, and you have a disaster like IraqIt is a little noticed fact that the London School of Economics doctoral thesis that bears the name "Saif Al-Islam Alqadhafi" makes...
We must be free and able to defend private lives against tabloid tyranny | Timothy Garton Ash
The Leveson inquiry has shown the ravages of an unchecked media. Alas, privacy cannot be trusted solely to self-regulationLike a truth commission, this inquiry exposes the horrors of a bad recent past. We gasp as we hear story after story of intrusio...
If David Cameron has a British vision for Europe, let him tell us what it is | Timothy Garton Ash
Angela Merkel's clear plan for closer union will not appeal to all, but there is no substance to the British government's alternativeShe says more Europe. He says less Europe. Let's call the whole thing off? At the beginning of this week, the Ge...
Germany's rendezvous with history will also put Cameron on the rack | Timothy Garton Ash
If the eurozone is saved, it will be on German terms. Britain needs to take its partners' concerns more seriouslyAs it marks the 22nd anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, Germany faces its biggest external challenge since its miracul...
Those who profited on the road to financial crisis can compensate now. Get giving | Timothy Garton Ash
Charity is no substitute for systemic reform, but it can help a lot in the meantime. And bankers have a moral debt to payBetween the steps of St Paul's Cathedral and the G20 meeting in Cannes, I have this message to bankers: give some of it back. By...
These national Euro-debates are just what we need – if there is still time | Timothy Garton Ash
Vigorous exchanges have taken place in Westminster and the Bundestag, but the markets have little patience for such thingsUntangle this knot if you can. In the next days and months, the future of the eurozone will be decided by the verdict of financi...
As Poland shines, Ukraine sinks. Yet both their trajectories can be changed | Timothy Garton Ash
While the EU is right to react firmly to the show trial of Tymoshenko, it shouldn't see history as a reason to give up on KievIn a welcome display of firmness, EU leaders this week disinvited the Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych from important m...
Those gloating at the eurozone's plight should be careful what they wish for | Timothy Garton Ash
Monetary union, with an ailing south, may have been a bridge too far. But imagine the disintegrated Europe of sceptic dreamsWhat if it falls apart? For all my adult life, I have been what in England is called a pro-European or Europhile. For most of...
The years since 9/11 already look like a detour, not the main road of history | Timothy Garton Ash
The defining feature of world politics in the long term will not be Islamist terrorism, but the shift in power from west to eastAmid the plethora of conspiracy theories about 9/11, one I have not yet seen is that Osama bin Laden was a Chinese agent.
Facing gridlock and hysteria, the US may yet be reformed | Timothy Garton Ash
An ambitious plan to nominate a non-partisan, centrist candidate for the White House shows the can-do spirit is still aliveAmerican politics have become so hopeless that I begin to be hopeful. From anger and disgust flow the energy for reform. In a C...
The internet nourished Norway's killer, but censorship would be folly | Timothy Garton Ash
A poisonous ideology, spread by all kinds of media, fed the ramblings of Anders Breivik. It must not be left unanswered'You can ignore jihad, but you cannot avoid the consequences of ignoring jihad." That was the first reaction of the American anti-I...
Debt crisis: In our competitive decadence, we face eurogeddon and dollargeddon | Timothy Garton Ash
There are profound reasons why the twin giants of the liberal democratic west are both on the edge of defaultCall me Oswald Spengler if you must, but it's hard to avoid the conclusion that the United States and the European Union are currently engage...
Phone-hacking scandal: Britain should seize this chance to break the culture of fear at its heart
From the putrid quagmire of the hacking scandal must emerge a new settlement between politics, media and the lawBritain's drama has penetrated the carapace of American self-preoccupation. Legendary reporter Carl Bernstein compares it to Watergate. On...
