Issue 142
January 2008
Contents
Across the great divide
20th January 2008 — Issue 142
The new cleavage in British politics is not between left and right, but between liberals and communitarians. The elite is mainly liberal, believing rights are universal, while most people see them as conditional. But this divide is not insurmountable
Two cheers for populism
20th January 2008 — Issue 142
The shift from liberalism to populism in central and eastern Europe is not quite as bad as it looks. While the ex-dissidents dominate politics and the ex-communists dominate business, populism gives a voice to the losers from the transition period
Lucre of the Irish
20th January 2008 — Issue 142
For the first time in Irish history, a big, indigenous moneyed class has emerged—the product of a long economic boom and a leap in property prices. How are the new rich changing the way the Irish see themselves—and their English neighbour?
Are we failing in Afghanistan?
20th January 2008 — Issue 142
Is Britain's strategy in Afghanistan realistic or hubristic? Should we accept that we cannot militarily defeat the Taliban?
Oxford's poetry revolution
20th January 2008 — Issue 142
Forty years ago, inspired by the 1968 revolts in Paris, I tried to get the glamorous Russian poet Yevgeny Yevtushenko elected as Oxford's professor of poetry. Though our campaign failed, it somehow managed to suck in all the cultural currents of the time
Parmenides
20th January 2008 — Issue 142
The pre-Socratic philosopher sparked an intellectual revolution that still echoes today. Yet for philosophy and science to continue to progress in the 21st century, we may need to embark on an entirely new cognitive journey
Why internment failed
20th January 2008 — Issue 142
Dean Godson claims that historical ignorance has undermined British policies in Northern Ireland over the last half-century. But a more convincing answer can be found in the history of the IRA itself.
The Celtic tiger's underbelly
20th January 2008 — Issue 142
Talk about Ireland's stunning economic success in recent years tends to neglect the darker side of the boom
Saakashvili's gambit
20th January 2008 — Issue 142
Why did the Georgian president crack down on the Tbilisi protests? And what does this tell us about the leader of the "rose revolution"?
Throwdown in Polokwane
20th January 2008 — Issue 142
Thabo Mbeki's last triumph was to see the prospect of corruption charges laid against his victorious rival Jacob Zuma
After President Putin
20th January 2008 — Issue 142
Vladimir Putin is likely to try to shift powers from the presidency to the premiership next year. But Russian history suggests that such power-sharing is difficult
The queen is dead
20th January 2008 — Issue 142
Benazir Bhutto was consistently brave, but her belief that bloodline should trump ability could ultimately endanger Pakistani politics
Transition or transformation?
20th January 2008 — Issue 142
The timing of Pakistan's general election could have a profound effect on the future of the country - and not necessarily to the west's liking
The diaspora effect
20th January 2008 — Issue 142
With half of British Muslims describing their background as Pakistani, events on the subcontinent resonate here
Kenya on the brink
20th January 2008 — Issue 142
The violence in Kenya has been driven not by tribal animosity but by a corrupt political system and unscrupulous leaders on all sides
Inside Iowa
20th January 2008 — Issue 142
Most criticisms directed against the Iowa caucuses are accurate. But it's hard to see what could take their place
Broken borders
20th January 2008 — Issue 142
Republican presidential candidates are outdoing each other in their attempts to appear tough on illegal immigration. Yet reform is well overdue
A healthy debate
20th January 2008 — Issue 142
If there's one thing all the Democratic candidates agree on, it's that something needs to be done about America's healthcare system
Obama the conservative
20th January 2008 — Issue 142
Despite running for the candidacy of the Democratic party, Barack Obama should be the great hope of conservatives—both in the US and Europe
Comment (1)Better primaries
20th January 2008 — Issue 142
The system for choosing US presidential candidates is broken. Here's how to fix it
The ANC's awful choice
20th January 2008 — Issue 142
Only when both Mbeki and Zuma are removed from the fray will the ANC be able to revitalise South Africa
What Gordon should do next
20th January 2008 — Issue 142
Forget about "vision." There are plenty of good practical policies Brown—or the Tories—could adopt
The Beeb at its best
20th January 2008 — Issue 142
Radio 3's unashamedly highbrow Sunday schedule is a reminder of how good the BBC can be
Reaching for the stars
20th January 2008 — Issue 142
We should fund science not for a direct economic return—but to attract creative people to Britain
The return of Malthus
20th January 2008 — Issue 142
The Malthusian prophecy of a catastrophe in the world's food supply could yet come to pass
The pricks of conscience
20th January 2008 — Issue 142
The expectation that writers should comment on major political issues, which dates back to the start of the 20th century, has only increased since 9/11. But writers are people who sit at home all day largely oblivious to the outside world. Why should they be expected to trade in slogans?
Grandmasters of war
20th January 2008 — Issue 142
Was Bobby Fischer's defeat of Boris Spassky in 1972 really a product of liberal democracy's superiority to communism, as Daniel Johnson suggests? No—it was simply a game in which the better player won
Stages of history
20th January 2008 — Issue 142
Michael Billington's story of Britain through its postwar theatre is a fascinating and provocative work. But why the patronising disregard for musicals and other popular theatre?
Grandstanding pity
20th January 2008 — Issue 142
No sense of history or honour inhibits John Berger from repairing to his Marxist roots in his latest collection of essays. It is a work full of preening self-regard and rancid with bad faith
Widescreen
20th January 2008 — Issue 142
Digital technology is allowing cinema to capture the human form with unprecedented clarity. In the era of Facebook, face films are astonishing
Private view
20th January 2008 — Issue 142
Walter Sickert's Camden Town nudes, denounced as "slum art," are surely among the greatest political works in the history of British painting
Smallscreen
20th January 2008 — Issue 142
Cranford played fast and loose with Elizabeth Gaskell's plots—yet was still a triumph. It showed that the BBC can pull in big audiences for serious drama
Performance notes
20th January 2008 — Issue 142
Although Stockhausen had become a marginal figure by his death, his music will last. Plus 20th-century music gets the history it deserves
The wink
20th January 2008 — Issue 142
In the old people's home, Jean saw him again. This time, she knew what to do
Matters of taste
20th January 2008 — Issue 142
The cold hand of regulation is destroying the traditional winter pig slaughter across Europe. Still, at a Slow Food event in Edinburgh, I get to see a pig being dismembered
Washington watch
20th January 2008 — Issue 142
Hillary Clinton may lose in Iowa, but she has a plan B. The Dems have a crafty strategy for the Senate races. Plus Mitt Romney's millions, Ron Paul's bunnies and John McCain's son
This sporting life
20th January 2008 — Issue 142
Sport is finally waking up to the full extent of of its drugs problem—but the battle is far from won. Plus newspapers should remember that football is not the only game in town
Letter from Jerusalem
20th January 2008 — Issue 142
Israel's justice minister Daniel Friedmann bitterly opposes the country's supreme court. For the sake of Israeli democracy, and my research project, I hope he fails to curb it
Lab report
20th January 2008 — Issue 142
Does the theory of everything look like a exceptionally beautiful multidimensional polyhedron with 248 corners? Plus a better way to make human stem cells
Rivers of Babylon
20th January 2008 — Issue 142
The Al-Iraqiya channel is impressively even-handed, especially compared to other Arab media. Plus why 2008 is likely to be the year in which Iraq achieves real stability
Brussels diary
20th January 2008 — Issue 142
Blair's chances of being president of the European council may be over; Jean-Claude Juncker is the man to beat. Plus Slovenia tries to keep a lid on the Balkans