History of the Present

A thought from the ineffably complicated city of Brussels...

Far-right nationalist populist parties are making the running everywhere from Washington to Warsaw. So why be so alarmed about a little regional electoral victory for one such party, the Alternative für Deutschland (AfD), in one federal state, Saxony-Anhalt? “Because it’s Germany!” is the almost instinctive answer in many heads around the world. But that “because it’s Germany!” needs to be taken apart, like the segments of an orange.

History of the Present (three weeks to 13 September 2026) You might be interested in another round of our lunchtime discussion - recorded on the 25th anniversary of 9/11.

History of the Present (three weeks ending 23 August 2026) The beginning of my conversation with Claude (Fable 5) about the misbehaviour of its species. Here in Silicon Valley, the experts think that within the next couple of years we’ll see an extraordinary takeoff for Artificial Intelligence. ‘Welcome to the foothills of the singularity,’ as a Stanford University friend greeted me.

History of the Present (25 days ending 2 August 2026) America the Beautiful - and deeply troubled. (Arastradero Preserve, CA. Author’s photo) In these days of extreme weather events, it seems odd to say that the US needs a big landslide. But a landslide defeat for President Donald Trump in November’s midterm elections is exactly what is required if the country is to start reversing his deliberate and rapid erosion of its democracy.

History of the Present (three weeks to 8 July 2026) Map showing in the darkest shade what I call ‘dual-core Europe’ (EU and Nato), drawn for my forthcoming book Europe in 7½ Chapters by Martin Davis, Bodleian Libraries, Oxford Today’s Europe has two cores. Its economic-political core is the EU, its military-political one Nato. Both are based in Brussels but for decades they talked to each other remarkably little. Yet Europe’s strength has derived precisely from having this dual core.

History of the Present (10 days ending 17 June 2026 ) Look how big we are really. (Hobo-Dyer equal area projection, Pacific-centred, South Pole at top. Map in my collection.) As Britain approaches the tenth anniversary of its 23 June 2016 vote to leave the EU, the British are beginning to debate rejoining what they call Europe. But, as in most previous British debates about ‘Europe’, this is Europe with the Europe left out.

History of the Present (fortnight ending 7 June 2026) Student-led protest in Belgrade, 23 May 2026 (photo: Studenti_u_blokadi) One of the many curses of the age of Trump is that he – the world champion in commanding attention – obscures from our view so many important stories. Even the largest war in Europe since 1945 struggles to retain sufficient attention unless Trump is bloviating about his peace talks with Putin. It takes a conscious effort to highlight other stories.

History of the Present (five days ending 10 May 2026) I always enjoy talking to Yascha Mounk on his podcast The Good Fight. Here we go on a political tour from Britain's latest election results through France, Germany, Poland and Hungary, ending up in Ukraine. You can find both the audio of the conversation and the transcript here:

History of the Present (10 days ending 5 May 2026) Germany’s new military strategy, the first in the history of the Federal Republic. As we mark the 81st anniversary of the end of the second world war in Europe this Friday, 8 May, it’s clear that Germany will again be the leading European military power. Already next year its defence spending will be as much as that of France and Britain combined – and it is projected to be significantly larger by 2030.