Therese Raphael

As the drama around former Health Secretary Matt Hancock moves to the background, a moment of truth is coming for Boris Johnson. This time, it’s all about spending. The prime minister’s inclination is to spend his way out of the pandemic-induced crisis, but Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi…

In the wake of the meeting between Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin last week, British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace mooted the possibility of a summit between Boris Johnson and Putin — provided the Russian president ceases “malign activity.” France and Germany were hoping to resume Russia-EU summitry…

On the level of optics, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson can count his first meeting with US President Joe Biden a success. There were impressive photo ops, an exchange of gifts and a new Atlantic Charter to update the one Churchill and Roosevelt signed 80 years ago. But if Biden’s goal at…

I have been four-eyed since I was 19. My prescription for nearsightedness was so mild, however, that I could manage without glasses if I wanted to. Over the years, my myopia needle moved only slightly, generally hovering around -1.0. A slight reading prescription was added in middle age,…

Thanks to a technicality of British parliamentary procedure, Boris Johnson has managed to avert an embarrassing showdown with lawmakers from his own party over the UK government’s budget for foreign aid. But Parliament will still get to vent on the issue Tuesday, and plenty of other divisions are…

With his shock of uncombed blonde hair, national tour calling for a “hard” Brexit and ability to inspire confidence in ordinary people, it’s hard to overstate the impact that one person’s enthusiasm had on British public opinion toward leaving the European Union. No, not Boris Johnson. That…

Some problems fester for decades until a crisis makes them impossible to neglect any longer. In that respect, the pandemic may hold a silver lining for Britain’s troubled rail sector. After years of bitter debate, it’s finally getting a major overhaul. There will be a new public organization…

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s cabinet met this week to debate whether to approve the terms of a free-trade agreement with Australia. What, you might wonder, could be less controversial? After all, there’s nothing more Brexity than free trade. In a set-piece speech in early 2020, Johnson…

In the devastation of World War II, a handful of British politicians and civil servants proved skilled in a now dying art: grand strategy. They thought deeply about global risks and long-term interests. They collaborated with the US to create postwar institutions for preserving peace, protecting…

Despite the jokes on social media, Britain and France aren’t going to war. When Prime Minister Boris Johnson ordered HMS Severn and HMS Tamar — two Royal Navy offshore patrol vessels — into the waters around the island of Jersey, it wasn’t with the intention of doing combat with the French over…