Con Coughlin

Contributor

Con Coughlin is a defence and foreign affairs columnist for The National

Iran's brinksmanship before nuclear talks risks alienating Europe

Tehran seems to have little interest in compromise, so great powers will start wondering about the point of talking

February 25, 2021

Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, February 24, 2021. Idex 2021 Day 4. Visitors at the RCWS Remote Controlled Weapons Station located at the KOREA exhibition area in ADNEC. Victor Besa / The National Section: NA

Successes of Abu Dhabi's Idex are a boost for global security ties

Arms fairs provide a unique opportunity for friendly nations to help improve global security

February 24, 2021

Nato soldiers fly in a US Air Force C-130 aircraft during a routine movement of Nato troops, from Kandahar to Kabul, March 20, 2018. AP

Is it really the time to be talking about withdrawing US troops from Afghanistan?

Nato chief says no withdrawal should be undertaken “before the time is right”

February 18, 2021

Iran maintains a complex sphere of influence in the Middle East. AP

Biden takes a tougher, but incomplete line on Iran

The US President has moved on from Obama-ear policy on the country's nuclear programme. But Tehran is destabilising the Middle East in other ways too.

February 12, 2021

A South Korean official (centre L - yellow vest) meets the crew of the Hankuk Chemi, a tanker seized by Iran, on the ship in Iran on February 3. AFP / South Korean Foreign Ministry

Iran's capture of the South Korean tanker was an exercise in old tricks

The Iranian regime has not lost its enthusiasm for taking hostages

February 4, 2021

The EU's health commissioner Stella Kyriakides has publicly slammed pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca, accusing it of breaching its vaccine delivery obligations. AP

In its fight with AstraZeneca, the EU slips off its mask

Europe is far behind in giving out vaccines, and it's lashing out at the companies making them

January 28, 2021

An Iranian army military drill in the coastal region of Makran in southeastern Iran. AFP / Iranian Army office

The thorn in the side of Biden's foreign policy team

The new US president bills his agenda as a reversal of his predecessor's policies, but there were some areas where Trump had it right

January 21, 2021

Iranian military officials during an aerial drill at an undisclosed location in Iran, on January 6, 2021. EPA/Iranian Army Office

Europe has failed, as Iran returns to the path of nuclear weapons

Critics are right to ask whether Tehran ever intended to honour any nuclear deal in the first place

January 7, 2021

Members of Iraq's Kataib Hezbollah militia hold a picture of Iranian general Qassem Suleimani before his funeral procession in Baghdad on January 4, 2020. Reuters

One year after Suleimani's killing, Iran refuses to learn its lessons

Instead of ending its aggressive approach to both the US and its neighbours in the Middle East, the regime has chosen to maintain its bellicose attitude

January 3, 2021

Abu Nidal waged a campaign of violence in Europe during the 1970s and 1980s. Sipa / Shutterstock

French courts seek justice for Abu Nidal’s victims 40 years on

Paris trial in 2021 to reveal role of Palestinian plantation owner in terrorism campaign

December 31, 2020

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson insists the UK's relations with Europe will not be undermined. Reuters

A sovereign Britain will still be a global force to reckon with

Untethered from the EU, the UK's military might and a seat in the UN Security Council are foundations upon which to rebuild its status in the world

December 31, 2020

A firefighter from France swabs a lorry driver to test for Covid-19 on December 24, 2020 in Dover, UK. Getty

In the twilight of Brexit talks, Europe sent Brits a message about borders

Some in the UK can't help feel that EU states' Covid border closures were really about politics

December 24, 2020

Turkey's president has little to celebrate after the US decision to impose sanctions on the country this week. Reuters

Are Turkey's days in Nato numbered?

Ankara seems to have little regard for its place in the world's most powerful military alliance

December 17, 2020

FILE - In this Aug. 28, 2008 file photo Author John Le Carre poses for a photo at his home in London. John le Carre, the spy-turned-novelist whose elegant and intricate narratives defined the Cold War espionage thriller and brought acclaim to a genre critics had once ignored, has died. He was 89, Le Carre's literary agency, Curtis Brown, said Sunday, Dec. 13, 2020 that he died in Cornwall, southwest England on Saturday. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth, File)

John Le Carre: consummate writer of subterfuge and betrayal

Novelist vividly captured the dark world of Cold War espionage

December 14, 2020

A Russian Mil Mi-17 military helicopter flies over a joint Russian-Turkish military patrol convoy in northeastern Syria, November 30, 2020. AFP

Ankara’s links with ISIS are still a red flag

A new report underlines weapons smuggling across the Turkish border

December 10, 2020

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