Culture

Italy’s UNESCO Victory: Shared Mediterranean Food Gets a National Label

UNESCO has crowned Italian cooking an intangible treasure, but in a shared Mediterranean kitchen it raises a question: how far can one country claim what ends up on the plate?

Gus Jackson and Europe’s Complicated Memory of Michael Jackson

Europe's enduring enthusiasm for Michael Jackson tribute acts shows how the continent continues to separate cultural memory from moral debate in ways that the United States no longer does.

Letters of Power: Turkey’s Alphabet and the New Map of Connection

Language, more than borders, shapes how we identify ourselves. The alphabet we learn as children tells us who we are. For Turkey, redefining those letters is an act not of nostalgia but of future-making.

Religion as Tradition: Romania and the CEE Defy Europe’s Secular Turn

On 26 October 2025, Romania completed the world's largest Orthodox church in Bucharest, revealing how religion and politics still intertwine where tradition remains public.

The Case of a Missing Picasso: Europe’s Art World and the Fragility of Trust

A Picasso vanished between Madrid and Granada in October, exposing how Europe's art world still depends on fragile systems of paper logs and human trust.

Popular

LVMH, War and the Luxury of Trees

As war dents luxury sales and Europe's tree cover grows more unequal, an old truth is returning: comfort is becoming easier to buy than to share.

UAE Quits OPEC to Define New Energy Order

After missile strikes on Gulf ports and thousands of flight cancellations, the UAE's exit from OPEC shatters the old oil order, exposing a ruthless energy future.

After the Correspondents’ Dinner Shooting, Trump Changes Tone

After gunfire erupted at the White House Correspondents' Dinner this weekend, Donald Trump responded with less fury than after earlier political attacks, and that change matters.

West Overlooks Russian Grain and Borders in Ukraine

As stolen grain enters Israeli docks and Berlin hints at regional trade-offs, a quiet consensus forms around the permanence of Russia's seized Ukrainian areas.

Deraa First Trial Puts Syrian Justice on the Stand

This week's public trial of Atef Najib returned Deraa to the centre of Syrian politics, with the first courtroom reckoning for the crackdown that helped ignite the uprising.