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.

Arms control is not an imperative for tranquil times but rather a tool for building — or rebuilding — trust between adversaries, write Volker Perthes and Oliver Meier

The uncertainty of administrational transition is greater in the Trump era and while it is not time to hit the bunker just yet, it wouldn’t hurt to have one nearby, writes Carl Bildt

Ireland has been described as Europe's weakest link when it comes to defence and intelligence by a leading security expert.

The American military and industrial complex needs a new enemy to justify its massive budget and Vladimir Putin is the right person at the right time, argues Peter Van Buren.

Gardaí and health officials fear more drug-related deaths from a super-strong form of synthetic heroin after five deaths in the last three months.

Russia made it to Rio by the skin of its teeth and it may see Putin suspend his bid for military glory, writes Nina L Khrushcheva

General Richard Shirreff seems to think it is almost a foregone conclusion that Russia will attack one of the Baltic States next year.

A fairly wet summer has been predicted for Ireland and the UK, with the heaviest falls expected in Northern Ireland, western Scotland and northwest England.

Donald Trump’s rhetoric may be idiosyncratic but he has made the idea of an isolationist America a popular subject for discussion among the Washington mainstream, says Peter Apps

Bernard-Henri Lévy finds extreme danger in a ‘fifth column’ of Western supporters who slavishly endorse every move by the Russian president.

Every person who is native to the south east of Ireland struggles to understand why our region was the worst hit by the recession of 2008 to 2013. 

As the dairy industry faces into life post-quota and with milk prices in free-fall, it is a worrying time for many dairy farmers across Ireland.

Ireland spends less money on social welfare payments to pensioners than any other country in the EU.

The head of Nato has spoken of his admiration for German chancellor Angela Merkel — particularly her capacity for drinking white wine.

On June 4, 1919, HM Submarine L55 sank in the Baltic Sea. L55 had been targeting two Bolshevik warships. It is unclear whether the submarine was sunk by Bolshevik gunfire or from straying into a British-laid minefield.

Mobile phone roaming charges were due to end this year but that is now unlikely because EU member states say more time is needed.

Russian anger over MoD’s ‘real danger’ claim

One of the two Russian ‘Bear’ bombers which flew into Irish-controlled airspace last week was reportedly carrying a nuclear weapon.

Outgoing US defence secretary Chuck Hagel has said he is worried about a potential division within Nato as countries in the north want to focus on the growing threat from Russia, while other alliance members in the south are more worried about the influx of foreign fighters from northern Africa.

Nato approved wide-ranging plans to boost its defences in eastern Europe, aiming to reassure allies nervous about Russia’s intervention in Ukraine that the US-led alliance will shield them from any attack.

NATO has unveiled tough new measures to stop Russian aggression in the Baltic States.

Lashing out at Russia, President Barack Obama has cast Moscow’s aggression in Ukraine as a threat to peace in Europe.

A border guard vessel has been attacked by land-based forces, Ukraine said, hours after Russian president Vladimir Putin called for immediate talks on a political solution to the crisis in the east of the country.

Agriculture Minister Simon Coveney has been urged to do more to deal with the impact of the Russian food ban at home, rather than depend on the EU to sort things out.

AS far as I can tell, any government which is a party to the Rome Statute can refer a crime to the International Criminal Court in the Hague. The Rome Statute is the piece of international law that set up the Court.

Nigel Farage ended up in knots today as he suggested there was no problem with his wife’s first language being German because she did not speak it on British trains.

Criminal gangs are earning profits equal to almost a thousand times the fines imposed on smugglers by the courts, according to the tobacco industry.

Ireland has a higher homicide rate than most of our European neighbours, according to a UN report.

Nato’s foreign ministers have ordered an end to civilian and military co-operation with Russia and told their generals and admirals to quickly devise ways to better protect alliance members that feel threatened by Moscow.

Russia’s aggression is a watershed moment for Europe, which has to prove much with less, writes Europe Correspondent Ann Cahill.

Almost 100 years ago, many of our grandparents and great grandparents went to war, often never to return.

It is an indication of how powerful, how unaccountable and secure Russia president Vladimir Putin and his circle of oligarchs feel that they can orchestrate such terrible, anti-democratic violence in Ukraine while their pet project — the incredibly expensive, €37.5bn Olympics at Sochi — offers the world a prime-time insight into modern Russia.

Slowly but unsurely Europe is facing up to population trends that will sap long-run economic growth and force nations to choose between cutting pensions and welfare benefits or paying higher taxes to maintain them.