FTdotcomment

The Washington Post
Anne Applebaum, After the wall fell
Robert J.  Samuelson, Is the world  facing its next big bubble?

The Wall Street Journal
Editorial: Why the Berlin Wall fell and the benefits of moral clarity
Gordon G. Chang, Censorship shows the ‘Beijing concensus’ won’t last

The New York Times
From the archives: Tom Brokow, Freedom danced before my eyes
Ross Douthat, Life after the end of history
Slavoj Zizek, 20 years of collapse

The Telegraph
Editorial: The Berlin Wall fell and a new Europe rose
Boris Johnson, To abandon Afghanistan now would be a betrayal of the fallen
George Pitcher, Goldman fat cats are still shamelessly purring

The Independent
Editorial: A revolution that reshaped our world
Bruce Anderson, The EU battle is not over for Cameron

The Times
Editorial, Over the wall
Mikhail Gorbachev, Tear down this wall! And save the planet
Richard Dowden, Why Africa welcomes Beijing’s ‘new colonialism’

The Washington Post
Charles Krauthammer, Obama’s Blame Bush policy
David Ignatius, More troops to Afghanistan

The Wall Street Journal
Editorial: A recovery at last, but will it turn into a durable expansion?
Yossi Klein Halevi, In tablood cartoons and dinner party conversations, Israelis brace themselves for war with Iran

The New York Times
Editorial: Mrs. Clinton in Pakistan
Paul Krugman, This is the defining moment for healthcare reform
David Brooks, Does Obama have the determination it takes to be a war president?

The Telegraph
Jeff Randall, Tony ‘the twister’ Blair now wants a free ride on the Euro Express
Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, Central banks chill asset rally

The Independent
Editorial, A troubling lack of transparency
Steve Richards, Blair is the only man for this job
Excerpts from a Manmohan Singh speech, At long last there is real hope for peace between India and Pakistan

The Times
Editorial: Taking on the Taleban
Tony Brenton, Five ways Britain can get the most from Russia

The Washington Post
Robert Kagan, Raise or fold with Iran?
E.J. Dionne Jr., Democrats should embrace Obama for the benefits he can bring

The Wall Street Journal
Karl Rove, Tuesday’s election and the Obama agenda: losses in Virginia and New Jersey could spook Congress
Editorial: All rise for president what’s-his-name: does the EU want a global leader or not?

The New York Times
Nicholas Kristof, More schools, less troops
Editorial: Ongoing agony of the banks

The Telegraph
Editorial: The EU: a Blair presidency would be bad news for Britain
Timothy Kirkhope, If we can’t stop the existence of a President of Europe, let’s hope he’s low key
David Blair, Tehran’s nuclear ambitions have overtaken Afghanistan as the biggest security problem

The Independent
Editorial: Breaking up the banks properly
Charles Clarke, Keep Blair away from the EU presidency

The Times
Editorial: Do something
Agnès Poirier, We need a visionary as EU president, not Tony Blair

The Guardian
Timothy Garton Ash, This EU job is no presidency and it won’t be Blair

The Washington Post
Editorial: A civil rights advance
Michael Gerson, Democracy with a dose of moral clarity

The Wall Street Journal
Jeremy J. Siegel, Don’t blame Efficient Market Theory for the economic crisis
Holman Jenkins, Washington’s suicide mission
Declan Ganley, Stuck with the Lisbon Treaty and its anti-democratic formula

The New York Times
Thomas L. Friedman, On Afghanistan: instead of digging in, let’s reduce our footprint
Editorial: Microchips and monopolies

The Telegraph
Irwin Stelzer, Tony Blair would bring clout to the EU
Simon Heffer, The Tories’ plans to deal with Britain’s recession are still economically illiterate

The Independent
Hamish McRae, Prepare for a period of sullen calm
Mark Steel, This is what Blair does: he wrecks a place, then gets the job of uniting it

The Times
Anatole Kaletsky, Three cheers for the death of old economics
Phillip Collins, Progressive Tories must learn their own history

The Guardian
Simon Tisdall, Iraq’s last chapter is still not written

The Washington Post
William Kristol, A good time to be a conservative

The Wall Street Journal
James Shinn, ‘Nato has the watches, we have the time’- the Taliban will simply wait us out
Ryan Streeter and Arthur C. Brooks, Freedom to prosper

The New York Times
David Brooks, The fatal conceit: the government has exposed itself as overconfident
Roger Cohen, On Afghanistan Britain resolves, US wavers

The Telegraph
Gerald Warner, A perfect excuse not to send Christmas cards
Mary Riddell, President Blair will be the price worth paying if he can transform Europe’s role

The Independent
Editorial: When it comes to the state, it is not the size that matters most
Simon Carr, Nothing is as it seems in the elliptical world of immigration
Steve Richards, Who will be toughest on the banks?

The Times
David Aaronovitch, It not immigration we really fear. It’s change
Ken Macdonald, Those in power tread a crooked moral line

The Guardian
George Monbiot, Making this ruthless liar EU president is a crazy plan. But I’ll be backing Blair

The Washington Post
Fareed Zakaria, Obama should weigh troop level carefully and take his time

The Wall Street Journal
Gordon Crovitz, ‘Outsider trading’ and too much information
Sanford I. Weill and Judah S. Kraushaar, Six steps to revitalise the financial system
Joe Queenan, ‘Man up, Obama’ and other nonsense

The New York Times
Editorial: Obama should stop covering up painful truths
Ross Douthat, Benedict’s gambit

The Telegraph
Philip Johnston, Public services – like the NHS – should be run like no-frills airlines
George Pitcher, If gay Anglican priests object to women bishops so much, they will have to abandon their partners

The Indepedent
Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, America’s racial divide is healing faster than our own
Bruce Anderson, Let’s have more rich bankers, not fewer
Robert Fisk, Beirut’s history cannot be traced to a mere ‘heritage trail’

The Times
Libby Purves, Question Time was not perfect, but good work chaps. Commendable courage
Caitlin Moran, Nation, I implore you, don’t judge a man by his biscuit

The Washington Post
Minky Worden, Olympic glow should not mask rights abuses
Eugene Robinson, Capping bonuses is like arresting a jaywalker
Eban Goodstein, Frank Ackerman and Kristen Sheeran, We can afford to save the planet

The Wall Street Journal
Editorial: Mervyn King’s Wisdom
Jan Boucek, The bad debt dance

The New York Times
Paul Krugman, China’s bad economic behaviour is posing a threat to global economy
Ron Chernow, Everyman’s financial meltdown
Roger Cohen, Miliband on Cameron

The Boston Globe
Editorial: Give up on Karzai

The Telegraph
Editorial, Only modernisation can save the Royal Mail
Philip Johnston, Britain’s population is booming – how many more people can we take?

The Independent
Editorial: The government has stood on the sidelines on the Royal Mail strike for too long
Matthew Norman, Of all the New Labour toadies, Jack Straw must be the worst

The Times
Editorial, The UN tribunal should summarily reject Radovan Karadzic’s delaying tactics
Sam Kiley, Do starving Africans a favour. Don’t feed them
Antonia Senior, A flawed philosophy that bolsters the BNP

The Guardian
Editorial: Questionable television -British National Party
Sunny Hundal, Nick Griffin’s great night out

The Washington Post
Editorial: Iran’s treatment of an American puts detente on ice
David Ignatius, The Waziristan campaign must be labeled “Made in Pakistan”
John B. Bellinger III, The Iran talks we should end: an outmoded US-Iran claims tribunal

The Wall Street Journal
Editorial: The cost of ‘trade- enforcement’: Beijing emulates America’s anti-dumping bad habits
Karl Rove, Obama goes wobbly on Afghanistan
Seth Lipsky, The best protection for press freedom lies in private property

The New York Times
Editorial: Mugabe vs. Zimbabwe: new elections?
Nicholas D. Kristof, Americans should remember their own history: more troops are a bad bet

The Boston Globe
Joan Fitzgerald, China leaving US behind in green energy

The Telegraph
Frank Field and Nicholas Soames, Cowardice on immigration has allowed BNP to flourish
Damian Thompson, The Vatican opens its arms to Anglicans- and tightens its grip
Edmund Conway, Mervyn King is right – the economy is changing and we’re blindfolded without a map

The Independent
Steve Richards, The enemies of democracy are very grateful for this gift: the BNP could fill a dangerous gap in the market
Robert Fisk, End of an era for Lebanon’s free press

The Times
Editorial: The BBC is right to hold NickGriffin to account on Question Time
Alice Thompson, David Cameron’s all-female shortlists are a way to boost the talent pool

The Guardian
Mark Thompson, Keeping Nick Griffin off air is a job for parliament, not the BBC
Sheila Lawlor, Regulation is killing responsibility

The Washington Post
Editorial: False analogy: take no comfort in the history of WWII deficits
Editorial: White House and Congress can still do right by the Uighurs
Harold Meyerson, Where are all the free-market champions? Not on Wall Street

The Wall Street Journal
Editorial: Time for inaction on global warming
Holman Jenkins, When bad luck is a crime

The New York Times
Editorial: Mr. Karzai relents
Thomas L. Friedman, It isn’t just the US financial system that needs a reboot and an upgrade, but also its public school system

The Telegraph
Irwin Stelzer, It’s not the money – it’s where it comes from
Simon Heffer, Tories must be wary of replacing Labour’s cronies with their own

The Independent
Editorial: The banks are heading for a crude political backlash
Johann Hari, The three fallacies that have driven the war in Afghanistan
Paddy Ashdown, Afghanistan’s future lies in strengthening its tribal structures, not in its corrupt government

The Times
Tom Coghlan, Our last chance to do right by Afghanistan
Daniel Finkelstein, Posties should know that strikes are catching

The Guardian
Richard Goldstone, Israel’s missed opportunity

The Washington Post
Richard Cohen, Obama’s identity crisis: still an undeveloped character
Anne Applebaum, Where’s the alliance in Afghanistan?

The Wall Street Journal
Charles Calomiris, In the world of banks, bigger can be better
Hugh Pope, Time runs out for cypriot solution
William McGurn, What Singapore can teach the White House about healthcare

The New York Times
Editorial: Talking to Sudan: Khartoum must be held to account for its horrors
Bob Herbert, Safety nets for the rich

The Telegraph
Geoffrey Lean, Gordon Brown saves the world from climate change (again)
Andrew Pierce, Frank Field’s a good man, but he’s got this horribly wrong
Editorial: Hamid Karzai must show he is worth fighting for

The Independent
James Moore, From inactivity to hyperactivity … the regulator’s folly
Thomas Sutcliffe, It’s time to admit flying is a luxury

The Times
Editorial: Ill windfall: a special bonus tax would set a bad precedent
Editorial: President Karzai must concede the need for a second vote

The Guardian
Polly Toynbee, Beware the zealots selling miracle cures of privitisation
Harold Evans, Judge Goldstone has been suckered into letting war criminals use his name to pillory Israel