Henry Kissinger, the late US secretary of state, once reportedly remarked that “to be an enemy of America would be dangerous, to be a friend would be fatal”. That observation, while made in the context of America’s allies in the Vietnam War, has gained fresh resonance at the recently concluded Munich Security Conference, where current Secretary of State Marco Rubio artfully delivered a message that was, to all intents and purposes, an iron fist in a velvet glove.

Francesco Mancini, Vice Dean (Executive Education) and Associate Professor in Practice at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy has an extensive background in the prevention and settlement of armed conflict. He was a senior director at the International Peace Institute in New York, a think tank that works very closely with the United Nations and its member states. We've asked him to share his views on the current military conflict in Ukraine.

From the Cold War to biological weaponry, the super-spy film franchise has over almost six decades adapted to the dominant anxieties of the times.

Europe can no longer claim to be the most fervent champion of equality worldwide.