Engelsberg Ideas

29/12/2025

Technological shifts, alliance politics, and fractious great-power competition make the United Kingdom’s secret service’s work under its new Chief more complex than ever.

Gordon Corera () on the evolving work of MI6. Click the link in bio to read.

Image: The new head of Britain’s MI6 Blaise Metreweli makes her first public speech. Credit: AP Photo / Kirsty Wigglesworth / Associated Press

29/12/2025

She was a cultural icon who channelled the electric power of French femininity and, by extension, Frenchness itself.

Muriel Zagha () on why Brigitte Bardot was the face of France. Click the link in bio to read.

Image: Brigitte Bardot in 1958. Credit: Pictorial Press Ltd

29/12/2025

The EI Podcast: The instability of a multipolar era

Paul Lay is joined by Helen Thompson to discuss US–China rivalry, the growing importance of the Western Hemisphere in geopolitics, and the inherent instability of a multipolar world.

EI's Paul Lay (https://engelsbergideas.com/author/paul-lay/) is joined by Helen Thompson (https://engelsbergideas.com/author/helen-thompson/) to discuss US–China rivalry, the growing importance of the Western Hemisphere in geopolitics, and the inherent instability of a multipo...

29/12/2025

Throughout human history, commanders and warriors have adapted to waging war in the depths of winter, providing strategic lessons and cautionary tales for the Russo-Ukrainian conflict.

A little history of winter warfare | Peter Caddick-Adams

Throughout human history, commanders and warriors have adapted to waging war in the depths of winter, providing strategic lessons and cautionary tales for the Russo-Ukrainian conflict.

29/12/2025

Brigitte Bardot was a cultural icon who channelled the electric power of French femininity and, by extension, Frenchness itself.

Brigitte Bardot was the face of France | Muriel Zagha

She was a cultural icon who channelled the electric power of French femininity and, by extension, Frenchness itself.

29/12/2025

Technological shifts, alliance politics, and fractious great-power competition make the United Kingdom’s secret service’s work under its new Chief more complex than ever.

The evolving world of MI6 | Gordon Corera

Technological shifts, alliance politics, and fractious great-power competition make the United Kingdom’s secret service’s work under its new Chief more complex than ever.

24/12/2025

Even in exile, Christmas offers a glimpse of hope that today’s struggles will one day fade into memory.

Christmas in exile | Fergus Butler-Gallie

Even in exile, Christmas offers a glimpse of hope that today’s struggles will one day fade into memory.

23/12/2025

Contributors to Engelsberg Ideas highlight the books they’ve enjoyed in 2025.

Books of the Year 2025 | Engelsberg Ideas

Contributors to Engelsberg Ideas highlight the books they’ve enjoyed in 2025.

23/12/2025

Criticism of Zadie Smith raises questions about whether the humanist tradition that shaped 20th-century Anglo-American letters still holds sway today.

Zadie Smith and the perils of broad-mindedness | Tomiwa Owolade

Criticism of Zadie Smith raises questions about whether the humanist tradition that shaped 20th-century Anglo-American letters still holds sway today.

23/12/2025

A year on from the martial law disaster, South Korean democracy has recovered from its existential moment. Yet it would be premature to assume the country is back on a stable democratic track.

The long tail of Seoul’s political crisis | John Nilsson-Wright

A year on from the martial law disaster, South Korean democracy has recovered from its existential moment. Yet it would be premature to assume the country is back on a stable democratic track.

22/12/2025

Albert Camus’ notebooks show a mind that faced the world squarely, appreciating its strangeness and beauty even in the absence of overarching purpose or ideology.

Camus’ life without illusion | William Fear

Albert Camus’ notebooks show a mind that faced the world squarely, appreciating its strangeness and beauty even in the absence of overarching purpose or ideology.

22/12/2025

Why not turn Christmastide into a thirteen-day Bach celebration, experiencing the Christmas Oratorio as it was first performed across Leipzig’s feast days in 1734–35?

The wonders of Bach’s Christmas Oratorio | Elisabeth Braw

Why not turn Christmastide into a thirteen-day Bach celebration, experiencing the Christmas Oratorio as it was first performed across Leipzig’s feast days in 1734–35?