Surely a Conservative Prime Minister has preserved Britain as a global force to be reckoned with, even after the follies of his predecessor in Afghanistan and Iraq? Not so much. Despite William Hague's belief that a strong, capable Army, Navy and Royal Air Force is necessary to protect us from traditional threats and combat the malevolence of terrorists, the Conservative Party seems to have either disregarded Reagan's theory or confused it for "strength through weakness."

This week South Africa hosts the fifth Brics summit, completing the first 'cycle' of summits that began in Yekaterinburg in 2008. Individually no-one disputes the group has flourished since then. Our respective economies have each grown apace in what have been very difficult circumstances.

In effect the Westerners want to take sides in a multi-dimensional war, with no guarantee that their chosen protégées will prevail. Most likely, by arming the rebels they will give carte blanche to the Russians and Iranians to reinforce their support for Assad and his allies, including the Lebanese Shia faction Hezballah.

Obama's well-honed brand of soft diplomatic intervention is now waning in relevance as the tone and timbre of foreign affairs shifts to a harsher, monotone, money-driven form of Realpolitik, or "Realeconomik", that is driving geopolitics.

Two balaclavered women have been detained for staging an action in support of Pussy Riot in Moscow's Church of Christ the Saviour, exactly on year after the punk group held their "punk-prayer" in the cathedral.

A year later it all seems quite surreal. Did it really happen? Did the authorities seek the arrest of the Pussy Riot women and actually put three of them on trial charged with the serious offence of "hooliganism motivated by religious hatred", a crime carrying a possible seven-year jail sentence? And were they really jailed? Sadly, of course, the answer is a triple yes.

For anyone who hasn't been paying attention, Russia has been sliding back to authoritarianism over the last dozen years. The military-industrial complex is extensive; cronyism in politics is king.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is no stranger to the machismo photo opportunity. However his latest foray into the skies may signal a fluffier, s...

A Russian court has upheld a ban on gay pride parades taking place in Moscow for the next 100 years. Nikolai Alexeyev, the founder of the Russian c...

There have been many concerns raised about the way the women are being treated: they say they are only getting a few hours sleep a night, they aren't being fed during their 12 hour days at court, and Nadya and Masha have not been able to see their two small children.

Judo black belt and Russian president Vladimir Putin is expected to use his visit to London today to take a seat in the Olympic stands to watch the ma...

Russia remains ever ready to subsume the worth of the individual under that of the state and in this way can never hope to nurture the responsible civil society which Putin himself claims to want. While Britain is at risk of becoming entirely listless and resigned to an inconsequential existence at odds with its unparalleled role in shaping the modern world.