Mike Higgins

Editor @TheWorldToday, the international affairs magazine of @ChathamHouse; @lycidas.bsky.social

[Sanam Vakil صنم وكىل @SanamVakil]

@AlexVatanka writes and reminds what so many keep asking about and do not yet digest: This is where many outside observers get Tehran wrong. They often confuse public noise with actual decision-making. The Islamic Republic is noisy by design. It contains competing institutions, rival personalities, ideological entrepreneurs, and media ecosystems that often speak in radically different registers. But on questions of war and peace, the system has historically shown an ability to narrow debate once the core leadership decides what line to pursue.

Public argument, even ugly public argument, does not necessarily mean strategic incoherence. In fact, it can serve a purpose: testing reactions, signalling limits, intimidating dissenters, and preserving ambiguity until a final line is set.https://t.co/lmQI4XC1VI

[Mike Higgins @higginsmike]

@mary_novakovich @InspireGlobal_ @BBCRadio4 @TravWriters @Croatia_hr Congratulations, Mary!

[Chatham House @ChathamHouse]

"The Houthis do not have the same theological and reporting relationship with Iran as Hezbollah does or other Shiite militias in the region."

@almuslimi (@CH_MENAP) on whether the Houthis in Yemen will fight alongside Iran against the US and Israel, via @AJInsideStory⤵️

[Mike Higgins @higginsmike]

@ShippersUnbound Thanks for this, just finished Game, Set, Match, loved the scenes with Tante Lisl and all the evocative Berlin history in that trilogy, will try Winter next on your recommendation

[Mike Higgins @higginsmike]

As Lucy Ash reports in her excellent piece for @TheWorldToday, the confidentiality of confession is even in doubt as the Russian Orthodox Church reinforces its support for Putin's war upon Ukraine👇

[Lucy Ash @LucyAAsh]

My piece for @ChathamHouse magazine on the hollowing out of Russian Orthodoxy. https://t.co/o0XJRE43yD

[Chatham House @ChathamHouse]

The tragedy of the present moment is that the historic opportunity many Iranians hoped for arrived before the political architecture necessary to seize it was built.

Read @SanamVakil’s analysis on the failure of Iran’s opposition via the @nytimes.
https://t.co/Ze9ewiZqzG

[Mike Higgins @higginsmike]

China's next Five-Year Plan is due to be confirmed this week. What are they for? Watch China expert @Yu_JieC's excellent one-minute primer👇- then read her article in @TheWorldToday @CHAsiaPacific

[The World Today @TheWorldToday]

As China prepares to unveil the 15th iteration of its Five-Year Plan this week, @Yu_JieC (of @CHAsiaPacific) joins our Editor @higginsmike to discuss what the plan means to the country. 🇨🇳

📖 Read her story in our latest issue: https://t.co/m16LIMNmAi

🎥 Watch the full video here: https://t.co/63Wj9E3qhL

[Sanam Vakil صنم وكىل @SanamVakil]

My piece and a 🧵 on the war and what's ahead for Iran and the region: An ebullient Trump embarked on this attack as a decisive campaign to eliminate what he called a longstanding threat to the US, one that he argued previous US presidents had been unwilling to confront directly. 1/ https://t.co/oqBU5J9Sfu

[Mike Higgins @higginsmike]

The excellent-sounding event mentioned here is TOMORROW - open to all

[The World Today @TheWorldToday]

You can read our 2021 interview with @by_kalesnikava here: https://t.co/iS3I4PkmTL

[Mike Higgins @higginsmike]

The elephant in the room is ‘ trumpeting loudly’. @bronwenmaddox on Rubio and the West v the West at the @MunSecConf

[Bronwen Maddox @bronwenmaddox]

My thoughts from this year's Munich Security Conference and the state of relations between Europe and the US.

@MunSecConf #MSC2026 ⬇️
https://t.co/hSlEyiwOIg

[Mike Higgins @higginsmike]

Time’s running out. Just two months left to save Crystal Palace Climbing Centre - Sign the Petition! https://t.co/b66Lv4SQc4 via @UKChange

[Francesca Ebel @FrancescaEbel]

Have been too shattered to write this but for the sake of clarity — I have also been laid off by the Post. I was one of the few journalists still working inside Russia. My last story went on the front page and featured rare testimonies from wounded soldiers criticizing the war.

[Alan Sipress @AlanSipress]

Over the past decade, I’ve had the privilege of having these remarkable Washington Post foreign correspondents on my team. Nearly all lost their jobs this week. Any news organization would be tremendously fortunate to hire any of them. Feel free to contact me for references. 1/

[Mike Higgins @higginsmike]

@annafifield This is terrible news, Anna, I’m very sorry to hear it

[Chatham House @ChathamHouse]

Video | A roadmap for Haiti?

@ChrisSabatini joined Laurel Rapp (@CH_Americas) to discuss the options available for the international community in aiding 🇭🇹 emerge from its security crisis.

Read our research➡️https://t.co/DkunZ1F9mK

[Farea Al-Muslimi @almuslimi]

Deep Dive: #Iraq’s underestimated role in the rise of #Yemen’s #Houthis

@CH_MENAP @ChathamHouse

https://t.co/Wfb5wdtudP
My most recent piece for @amwajmedia.

[Rt Hon Alistair Burt @AlistairBurtUK]

I’m a former Foreign Office Minister in the UK. I cannot tell you how much all with ministerial responsibility need fair and honest reporting from exceptionally brave correspondents who often put their life on the line to bring a free public the truth. Lose them at your peril.

[Chatham House @ChathamHouse]

"This does mark the end of the Western alliance."

Director @bronwenmaddox on the impact of Donald Trump's economic approach and foreign policy on the trans-Atlantic alliance.

Watch in full➡️https://t.co/1bR7YHwy8n

[Chatham House @ChathamHouse]

Director and Chief Executive @bronwenmaddox previews the Director’s Annual Lecture 2026.

Date📅: 13 January
Time⌚: 18:00

Register for the lecture➡️https://t.co/DnLE3BBQbq

[Mike Higgins @higginsmike]

Europe may be edging foward on security guarantees for Ukraine in the event of a ceasfire, but does it have a unifying doctrine? No, writes @GLandsbergis in @TheWorldToday, and it urgently needs one to counter the Kremlin's own https://t.co/BNwNnw0MLF