By James Meadway

Defiant words from George Osborne about putting “fuel into the tank of the British economy”, presenting a budget that underlined the coalition’s determination to cut its way through this crisis. A few more tax reductions, a few more chops at alleged over-regulation, and an ugly assault on the planning system.

By Nora Fisher Onar

The prospect of Turkish membership of the European Union looks more remote than ever. But neither Europe’s infirmity nor Turkey’s widening horizons need be the end of the story. A revived relationship based on mutual benefit remains possible.

By Arif Rafiq

The always-important Saudi Prince Bandar bin Sultan visited Pakistan this weekend to ensure that the country’s major power brokers are behind Saudi Arabia and Bahrain as the latter faces a possibly Iran-backed domestic uprising from its Shia native majority.

By Shashank Joshi

It was thought that Syria might be immune to the democratic winds of the Arab Spring. Bashar al-Assad is a youthful 45, in comparison to the aged figures of Mubarak, Ben Ali, and Gaddafi. His tenure has been relatively short – ten years, versus Gaddafi’s 42. A recent ill-timed puff piece in Vogue magazine described Assad’s wife as on the way to turning Syria into “a beacon of culture and secularism”.