Inside-Out, political commentary from Philip Stephens

Reports of Keir Starmer's demise are much exaggerated

One thing we should have learned during the tumult of recent years is not to project the present into the future.

Sep 14 • 

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August 2025

A German lesson for Ireland

A successful united Ireland would be a merger not a takeover

Aug 27 • 

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Israel’s choice: Oslo or Netanyahu's apartheid state?

A two-state settlement looks unachievable. Until you look at the alternatives

Aug 24 • 

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July 2025

Inside-Out Correction

My last post unfairly traduced Tory prime minister Rishi Sunak. It was Liz Truss who said she could not decide whether France was friend or foe…

Jul 9 • 

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Doing the right things….but not well enough

The cacophony of criticism surrounding Keir Starmer's first year counts the theatre of politics above the direction of policy

Jul 9 • 

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May 2025

Britain cannot rush to reclaim a European future

The BBC provides an eloquent reminder of the deep-seated neuralgia that took Britain out of its own continent

May 27 • 

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Trump has drawn the limits of US (and his own) power

The US president has surrendered America's global leadership and started a fight with China he cannot win

May 1 • 

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March 2025

Europe must "de-risk" the American threat

Trump’s infatuation with Putin is part of a bigger story. For Europeans the US is as much a threat as an ally

Mar 14 • 

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February 2025

Trump's America has made its choice

The UN General Assembly saw Washington formally disown the Pax Americana to line up with Russia, Belarus and North Korea. Even China seemed embarrassed.

Feb 25 • 

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Trump hands Putin a Munich triumph

The organising truth behind the US administration’s capitulation over Ukraine is that Trump agrees with Putin

Feb 15 • 

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January 2025

Jimmy Carter’s forgotten peace project

How the president opened the door to an American role in Irish peace-making

Jan 7 • 

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November 2024

Israel's war in Gaza has lost purpose beyond the killing of Palestinians

By looking away western democracies have surrendered moral authority

Nov 4, 2024 • 

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