And Sweden might have to give up entirely. — The Russian invasion of Ukraine has made many European countries rethink their military readiness — and few countries seem less adequately prepared than Sweden and Finland. Both countries are small and progressive, proud that their tax money mostly goes to childcare and universities rather than tanks and artillery. Unfortunately, subsidised…

An long answer, but a detailed one. — America has always loomed large in the Irish psyche, even before we knew it was there. 1,000 years before Christopher Columbus’ time, St Brendan the Navigator sailed west from Ireland in search of the mythical island paradise of Tír na nÓg. Many ordinary Irish today credit him with being the…

Is Italy’s food scene really better than elsewhere in Europe? — It’s sometimes joked that the only reason Italians go to restaurants is to complain that the food isn’t as good as what their grandmothers cook. Italy has the most famous cuisine of any country in the world. We’ve all heard of pizza, pasta and gelato. But as someone who is…

How will this impact not only China, but the wider world? — Young as I am, I’m old enough to remember a time when China’s future superpower status was hypothetical. Sure, it had a lot of people, but many were doubtful that this communist dictatorship that made cheap toys and banned Google would ever “rule the world”. In 2022, the debate is…

Say hello to the future. It just arrived. — If you keep up with the news, you’ve probably heard of ChatGPT, the new “AI” that’s taking the world by storm with its human-like performance. It has written essays that college students have successfully submitted, and generated functional computer code. It can write novels, songs, jokes, fitness plans, poems and…

I sure think so. Do you agree? — Growing up in Northern Ireland, self-determination was a dominant feature of life. Our political parties aren’t separated into right-wing and left-wing, but into “we want to remain a part of the UK” vs “we want to leave and join the Republic of Ireland”. That debate subtly affects almost every decision…

And should they have high hopes for it? — In Italy, the army has a long history of doing things that aren’t strictly military. Conscription only ended quite recently, in 2005, long after Italy was at any risk of invasion. …

How a humble tropical fruit became symbolic of modern Germany. — “How can you use a banana as a compass? — Place a banana on the Berlin Wall. The end that gets bitten points East.” An old Cold War German joke. Some countries are defined in the popular imagination by a specific food: pizza and pasta for Italy, sushi for Japan…

And why it might regret it. — You have probably heard of Evergreen — but if you don’t remember exactly where from, here’s a little reminder: Evergreen became a punching bag for meme sites when one of its tankers blocked up the Suez Canal, the world’s most crucial shipping lane, bringing global supply chains to a standstill…