The US feared the Russians could be plotting an undercover Cold War spy base in a disused Cork dockyard, newly declassified government documents suggest.

The people’s revolutions of 1989 were not the unalloyed success for the cause of freedom and democracy that was claimed for them at the time, writes Geoffrey Roberts

At a moment when the prospect of a renewed border on this island stirs old ghosts, Germany — and all of Europe — will, in the coming days, mark the 30th anniversary of the collapse of one of the continent’s most toxic icons, the Berlin Wall.

Europe experienced a truly miraculous few months 30 years ago. At a precipice, blood could have flowed. The floodgates of change opened instead, writes Carl Bildt

It is irresponsible of US President Donald Trump to unilaterally withdraw his country from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (Irish Examiner, February 2 ).

George H.W. Bush was the last person elected president of the United States with any prior foreign policy experience.

Werner Herzog’s quirky take on Mikhail Gorbachev promises to be one of the best documentaries at Cork Film Festival, writes Richard Fitzpatrick.

Withdrawal from 1987 pact with Russia would see a new generation of lethal weapons developed and deployed in Europe, says

The Bolsheviks’ efforts to change the world remain relevant in our own time of popular disaffection with establishment politics and brutalist economics, says Geoffrey Roberts

Most US administrations have had an aide who deemed himself crucial to the president. Steve Bannon was Donald Trump’s, until he had his wings clipped says Elizabeth Drew

A decade after the onset of the property and banking crash, mortgage debt means households

JP O’Malley talked to author Peter Conradi about the authoritarianism behind the growing tension between a former superpower and its neighbours in the Baltic and the EU.

As an ex-communist, Russian president, Vladimir Putin will be respectful of the revolutions of that shaped his country, but will not endorse too much freedom, says Geoffrey Roberts.

IN his 1938 work Murphy, Samuel Beckett assured us that “the sun shone, having no alternative, on the nothing new”.

On Thursday, US president Barack Obama announced the expulsion of 35 Russian diplomats working out of the Russian embassy in Washington. They were declared ‘persona non grata’ and given 72 hours to leave the US with their families.

Trump’s election has continued a trend in the US of dumbing down political life that has pushed the country down a perilous path, writes Nina Khrushcheva.

Mikhail Gorbachev’s latest book contains plenty of righteous anger at the state of modern Russia but is marred by being one-sided and presenting a lack of context for the general reader, writes Neil Robinson.

As Barack Obama prepares to become the first American president to visit Hiroshima, Yuriko Koike heralds statesmen who have promoted peace and put their countries’ needs first 

Hans-Dietrich Genscher, the long-serving German foreign minister who was one of the key architects of the country’s 1990 reunification, has died aged 89.

Shannon Airport’s celebration of 70 years since the first commercial transatlantic flight into an Irish airport has been marked with a photographic exhibition featuring the many famous people who passed through — and the one who didn’t.

Former Russian prime minister Yevgeny Primakov, whose career included journalism, diplomacy and spycraft, has died at the age of 85.

Russia’s top investigative body is looking into several possible motives for the killing of prominent opposition figure Boris Nemtsov, including an attempt to destabilise the state, Islamic extremism, the Ukraine conflict and his personal life.

Nuclear weapons continue to underpin the international security policy of the most powerful states

Fitting tributes

“Water, like religion and ideology, has the power to move millions of people” —Mikhail Gorbachev”

The Obama administration has stepped up tensions with Russia, accusing Moscow of conducting tests in breach of a 1987 nuclear missile treaty.

When incompetence in the Kremlin turns murderous, its incumbents can begin to tremble, says Nina L. Khrushcheva.

The right of people to choose their own governments is running into trouble. The unrest sweeping many nations shows democracy being overwhelmed by despotism and despair, writes Nicholas Wapshott

Charlie Sheen pretended he had married to give his ex-wife "a stroke".

Charlie Sheen claims he has got married.

If you’re old enough to remember Mikhail Gorbachev, with his distinctive birthmark, you might wonder if he was actually just a dream.

A teenager shot in the head by the Taliban has been awarded the prestigious Tipperary International Peace Award and plans to join a campaign led by Plan Ireland.

A teenager shot in the head by the Taliban followed in the footsteps of some of the world’s great leaders when she became the latest recipient of the Tipperary International Peace Award.

A teenager shot in the head by the Taliban is to be honoured for her courage and determination.

A teenager shot in the head by the Taliban will be honoured for her courage and determination tomorrow.

The 12th of June will go down in history for many reasons.

KIM Jong-un did the world a small favour by appointing an economic reformer to the country’s premiership on Apr 1, right in the middle of the Great Sabre Rattle.

Britain will not invite the Argentinian president Cristina Fernandez to Margaret Thatcher’s funeral next week in a snub likely to deepen a long-running diplomatic dispute over the Falkland Islands.

Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev will not attend Baroness Thatcher’s funeral due to health problems, his spokesman said today.

MARGARET THATCHER was the most forceful and influential post-war British prime minister.

Whether they loved her or loathed her, virtually all the world leaders she ever met stood in awe of Margaret Thatcher.