'There are plenty of good, valid arguments against the current western military action in Libya… But I do wish opponents of the action would stop resorting to the bone-headed type of argumentation that runs "Why aren't they bombing the crap out of Bahrain/Saudi Arabia/Syria/Yemen/Côte d'Ivoire?"'

When the student asks you to write their essay for them, part 1.

When the student asks you to write their essay for them, part 2.

Charles Butler took Diana Wynne Jones for a balloon ride in 2005.

My old friend Ivan Krastev on Turkey and the EU: "Until yesterday, the common-sense judgment of the EU-Turkey relationship could be summarised as “unpromising but stable”. The process of never-ending negotiations has seemed more closely to fit Germany’s dream endgame of “privileged partnership” than any other on offer, persuading Europeans that they had trapped Turks in something that resembles an unhappy Catholic marriage – no fun, no sex, but also no exit. "

My good friend Nathalie Tocci: "The revolts in the Arab world have demonstrated the weakness of EU policy towards the region, particularly of what such policy had evolved into in recent years, through its lopsided emphasis on economic cooperation and migration management at the expense of democracy and sustainable development."