A profile of the French Foreign Legion, staffed primarily by foreign nationals as its name suggests, and with a modern day reputation for going into harm’s way as an elite unit. Its history is more diverse, particularly its complex relationship with the French state, perhaps best exemplified by the involvement of some of their number in an attempted coup against Charles De Gaulle’s government in 1961.
The author retraces Lenin’s return from exile in 1917, a journey that was to have a profound impact on human history.
In this thoughtful piece, the author recalls his childhood interactions with the Red Army soldiers posted to a base near his home in Dresden in the 1970s.
A piece navigating the troubled waters of Deutsche Bank.
A profile of Yousef Al Otaiba, the Ambassador for the United Arab Emirates to Washington, by many accounts a supreme political operator who has access at the highest echelons of US government.
A fascinating January 2016 profile of Jeremy Heywood, the man heading the UK civil service. He has been an instrumental part of government during the reign of the last three Prime Ministers, and reportedly has a seat at every table that matters.
A look at the rise of industrial robots in China, a trend that will have a major impact on the global economy.
Such are the advances that have been made in structural engineering, that proposals now exist to create buildings that can reach space. For such “megastructures” to be viable however, we may need to look to the natural world for inspiration – perhaps even our own bodies, where an estimated 98% of atoms are replaced each year.
A new entry in a series that profiles “badass world-historical women of centuries past.” Joanna of Naples had an extraordinary life even by the standards of the 14th century’s topsy-turvy geopolitics. Escape from her castle by night, papal trials, attacks on her kingdom by her own relations and four husbands of varying quality all feature in this engaging portrait.
A story about Patrick Skinner, currently a local cop in Savannah, Georgia, but formerly a CIA case officer directly engaged in post-9/11 operations. The piece jumps between his two careers and relates how he is applying lessons from the CIA to community policing.