Ukraine has agreed to a ceasefire in principle. But conflicts often intensify when a pause in fighting is being negotiated.

With China’s large trade surplus likely to remain intact and the Trump administration aiming to turn the US trade deficit into a surplus, the world is facing a ‘clash of mercantilisms’.

Anxieties over US threats to stop protecting the continent are prompting various proposals to reinforce Europe’s deterrence posture – but many of these have serious flaws.