Issue 149
August 2008
Contents
A question of character
31st August 2008 — Issue 149
The idea of "good character" sounds old-fashioned and patronising, but it may be the key to some of our most entrenched social problems. Politicians across the spectrum are starting to realise this
A Muslim middle way?
31st August 2008 — Issue 149
Ed Husain, founder of the Quilliam Foundation, lumps together divergent forms of political Islam. If the foundation is to help steer British Muslims away from extremism, it will need to adopt a more nuanced approach to politics
What next for cosmology?
31st August 2008 — Issue 149
In recent decades, new technologies have revolutionised our understanding of the origins and nature of the universe. And now the big remaining questions—on dark matter and the universe's accelerating expansion—are turning cosmology into Big Science
A Truman for our times
31st August 2008 — Issue 149
The received wisdom is that President Bush has been a foreign policy disaster, and that America is threatened by the rise of Asia. Both claims are wrong—Bush has successfully rolled back jihadism, and the US will benefit from Asian growth
Comment (1)The tragedy of Tsvangirai
31st August 2008 — Issue 149
Robert Mugabe stole the Zimbabwean election with violence and intimidation. But Morgan Tsvangirai unwittingly helped him. Stephen Chan explains how an opposition leader lost his bearings
Arianna Huffington
31st August 2008 — Issue 149
The Greek-born socialite has shaken up American political media with her website the Huffington Post. But by revolutionising news, might she also be in danger of destroying it?
Know your Olympics
31st August 2008 — Issue 149
From Athens 1896 to Athens 2004, the best Olympic books, films and websites
The Beijing Olympics
31st August 2008 — Issue 149
The 2008 Beijing Olympics will be the most expensive games ever—and loaded with more symbolic ambition than any since Berlin 1936. Prospect's guide takes you through the political and cultural landscape of this gargantuan global sporting festival
The Beijing olympics: China's critics
31st August 2008 — Issue 149
China's most famous democratic activist, Wei Jingsheng, speaks to author Christian Tyler. And Chinese clothing and media millionaire Jimmy Lai reports on the moral crises of his nation and his hopes for its future
The great policing hole
31st August 2008 — Issue 149
The government's policing green paper is a hopelessly inadequate response to the challenges facing Britain's police services
The trouble with Turkey
31st August 2008 — Issue 149
The decision not to outlaw the ruling AK party was welcomed by virtually all Turks. But it was no victory for democracy, and may well stifle reform
The Russian futurist
31st August 2008 — Issue 149
Aleksander Solzhenitsyn killed off leftist attachment to the Soviet ideal in Europe. But his own attitude towards the motherland was complex
Politics gets personal
31st August 2008 — Issue 149
How the Conservatives are responding to the "politicisation" of private behaviour
Caucasian favours
31st August 2008 — Issue 149
Russia invaded Georgia partly to help maintain the loyalty of its own southern republics
Against ideology
31st August 2008 — Issue 149
The Labour party should ignore those calling for a return to ideological roots and instead embrace pragmatism
Fighting John McCain
31st August 2008 — Issue 149
McCain's hot temper and intense patriotism are part of his Scots-Irish heritage. Where might they lead him?
Fair trade isn't fair
31st August 2008 — Issue 149
Fair trade sounds a good idea. But it distorts the market and benefits a few at the expense of the many
The resilient moderates
31st August 2008 — Issue 149
Contrary to conventional wisdom, election wipeout for Labour won't leave the party as a socialist rump
Barghouti's hour
31st August 2008 — Issue 149
The one man who could unite Fatah and Hamas may soon be released from an Israeli prison
Bearing up
31st August 2008 — Issue 149
Shares have been in a bear market for years. We just haven't noticed until now
Blackboard idealism
31st August 2008 — Issue 149
In a reinvention of national service, top graduates are once again returning to teaching
Tuscan carbuncles
31st August 2008 — Issue 149
The beautiful buildings of Tuscany and Umbria are being ruined by architecturally illiterate developers
Migration fiction moves on
31st August 2008 — Issue 149
The last half century has seen long-distance migration shift from an exceptional to a normal aspect of global life. As Eva Hoffman's latest novel shows, this new migration is a realm of more subtle traumas and dislocations than the old, yet it remains an impetus for enduring art
Smaller is beautiful
31st August 2008 — Issue 149
Grand opera is a heritage industry in decline. But a new wave of "mini- operas" are setting out to woo fresh audiences
The fallacy of the condom
31st August 2008 — Issue 149
Helen Epstein's book is a vital exposition of the need to rescue the debate on HIV prevention in Africa from ideology
A Bosnian chimera
31st August 2008 — Issue 149
Aleksandar Hemon's new novel deftly blends two contrasting tales of exile in America. It is also a book about writing, and how history resists the categories and resolutions we try to impose on it
Private view
31st August 2008 — Issue 149
Are artists capable of time travel? The bleak, depressing work of Danish painter Vilhelm Hammershøi would certainly seem to suggest so
Musical notes
31st August 2008 — Issue 149
With his evocation of street life in 21st-century Britain, Soweto Kinch restores jazz's original vigour. Plus, Chris Barber: still going strong after 59 years
Widescreen
31st August 2008 — Issue 149
America "owns" cinema—and so what better gift for Iraq? The move from shooting bullets to shooting film would be a welcome one
Smallscreen
31st August 2008 — Issue 149
The Guardian says adult fans of Doctor Who are "pathetic." Well, that's me then. Russell T Davies's reinvention of the BBC classic has been brilliant
Summer books
31st August 2008 — Issue 149
Which books should you pack for your summer holiday and which should you leave behind? Prospect's expert panel of readers, writers and thinkers offer their advice
Married love
31st August 2008 — Issue 149
Lottie is nineteen, a musician, and has fallen in love with a great man. What could be simpler?
Out of mind
31st August 2008 — Issue 149
What's wrong with a man buying an oven-ready chicken, having sex with it, then serving it to his friends for dinner? Disgust is the guardian of our souls
Washington watch
31st August 2008 — Issue 149
Could Obama lead the Democrats towards a sweep of the south? Karl Rove's people are rescuing McCain. Plus, the leftist backlash against Obama starts here
Matters of taste
31st August 2008 — Issue 149
The staple breakfast for the Vietnamese is noodle soup, or pho. But it's made from rice flour, and the recent price hikes are hitting the poor. Plus, Hanoi's fusion food hero
China café
31st August 2008 — Issue 149
The tourist season has started, bringing shit, literally, to Moganshan. Meanwhile, I've turned down a fantastic business opportunity—but I'm going to run a triathlon
Lab report
31st August 2008 — Issue 149
Bird flu is last year's story—but the threat remains. Criticising the Iraq war can get your US government security clearance revoked. Plus, life on Mars update
France profonde
31st August 2008 — Issue 149
The summer brings travelling family circuses—like Le Cirque de Provence, which has been performing here for 26 years. Plus, film subsidies and Fadéla Amara's plan for the banlieues
Brussels diary
31st August 2008 — Issue 149
The José Manuel Barroso love-bombing of France starts here. Is Nicolas Sarkozy starting to warm to Turkish EU membership? Plus, the travails of Steelie Neelie
Common law
31st August 2008 — Issue 149
It's my first jury trial and I am prosecuting a crack dealer. My strongest piece of evidence has just been disallowed. So how can I prove that the defendant is lying?