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Janan GaneshFinancial Times |
If it did, the US should have much healthier politics than Europe
Assad, Putin, Gaddafi — the free world too often gets its hopes up about despots
The Democrats might decide that playing by the rules has got them nowhere
Europe’s bloated governments need his efficiency revolution much more than Washington does
Having had three friends in high places — the US, the EU and China — the UK contemplates life with none
If the party changes, the US rightwing realignment won’t last
Harris was the wrong candidate, and the consequences could be global
Nothing separates the man from his 2016 self more than his disappearing qualms about capitalism
The era of western stability relied on dominant parties, and the US has none
A cautious politician is easier to elect than an ambiguous one
The swings between Democratic and Republican presidents weren’t so wild in America’s heyday
There is none of the bipartisan spirit that the cold war brought to Washington
A once-common type is vanishing from the west, and it is a problem of demand not supply
America has cultural and structural advantages that governments can’t close
The lesson of 2024 so far is that American populists have no replacement for the former president’s star power
He managed the decline of American power much better than his recent predecessors
The US president’s high-spending protectionism is bad policy and worse politics
Polling precedent and economic data suggest the Democrats shouldn’t get ahead of themselves
Much of the Republicans’ ‘weirdness’ stems from their new tech friends
American populists oppose China but like pro-Beijing strongmen
Democrats fear chaos and dissent but deference to established candidates has cost them more often
Hatred of politicians deters good people from the job, which makes government worse, which makes voters hate politicians still more
How the west’s two most important institutions are withstanding the age of populism
The left ignores problems on its own side, and recent history has turned on that failure
Rethinking Brexit, the triple lock and other follies isn’t politically viable now but will be in 2029
Populism is often strongest in big-spending social democracies
Macron has concluded that power often tames radical parties or demonstrates their incompetence
‘Bold’ is media-speak for ‘leftwing’, and Britain doesn’t need a left turn
On trade, the right of British politics couldn’t see that the US is a foreign land
Maybe politics, which for decades has been dysfunctional in the US, doesn’t matter that much
The people who brought us partygate and Liz Truss’s mini-Budget think Rishi Sunak is the problem
Eloquence and charisma are vastly overrated in politics
Stinting Ukraine will harm America in the contest with the supposed ‘real’ rival China
Smartphone addiction, culture wars and low birth rates are byproducts of wealth
Voters haven’t had to think about the party’s flaws, such as its statism, for 14 years
It isn’t clear that their electorates have done the same
Refugee flows, low birth rates and left-behind regions persist because there is no answer, not because politicians are useless
His State of the Union speech was too popular with his own side to reassure swing voters
Why moderate to win power when life is cushier in opposition?
He is obsessed with money but his record suggests he doesn’t always drive a hard bargain
US Democrats should reverse the tradition of Labour politicians asking them for advice
Dislike of the US and its allies is often muddled and vexatious
It isn’t China or Russia who will dominate the post-American world
Donald Trump, Narendra Modi and Benjamin Netanyahu have all presided over growth
Unilateralism is not the same thing as isolationism
A ‘red wall’ agenda was never needed, feasible or all that popular
The free world has shrunk — but from heights that were unimaginable when I was born
The notion of ‘decline’ is too crude to capture what is happening to the US in the 21st century
Like so many politicians from the private sector, the UK prime minister doesn’t understand fanatics
For trying to do something about public debt, Emmanuel Macron is the politician of the year