Issue 151
October 2008
Contents
Overstretched and over there
25th October 2008 — Issue 151
Britain's armed forces are still formidable in battle, but undermanning and public indifference point to an institution under strain. It is too soon to declare the military covenant broken, but repair work is certainly needed
Closing the God gap
25th October 2008 — Issue 151
The Republican grip on America's powerful evangelicals is weakening. And Democrats are finally reaching out to God's faithful. But will this win them the election? And would it mean a secular shift in US politics—or the reverse?
A waste of space?
25th October 2008 — Issue 151
With a lack of political direction, Nasa is facing competition from the private sector and struggling to win the battle for relevance
Does Britain need fixing?
25th October 2008 — Issue 151
Britain is not broken, but parts of it are severely dysfunctional, despite the high social spending of the past decade. And, thanks to the distorting lens of the media and the strange psychology of risk, the public thinks the problems are worse than they are
Comment (1)David Miliband
25th October 2008 — Issue 151
The foreign secretary explains why he remains a liberal interventionist abroad, and a radical decentraliser at home. Plus: Iraq, Russia, and how to mend Britain's broken politics
It's the baladi, stupid
25th October 2008 — Issue 151
High world food prices have hurt Egypt's poor and the complex subsidy system that is meant to protect them. Can Mubarak's regime ride out the political volatility?
Flaming for Obama
25th October 2008 — Issue 151
This year's Democratic primaries weren't just fought on the hustings and in the television studios. Some of the fiercest battles took place in the blogosphere
Hirst's unburstable bubble
25th October 2008 — Issue 151
I got it wrong. Very wrong. More wrong, perhaps, than anyone has ever got anything wrong in the history of art, or at least the history of art market reporting
Livni's leap
25th October 2008 — Issue 151
Israel's new leader Tzipi Livni could achieve a lasting peace with the Palestinians—something no man has yet accomplished. But she'll struggle to put her own house in order first
A new game for Zimbabwe
25th October 2008 — Issue 151
Unveiling a power-sharing deal between Zimbabwe's bitter rivals turned out to be Mbeki's final act. But is his legacy a workable one?
Making things worse
25th October 2008 — Issue 151
The government is missing a vital opportunity to restore the fortunes of British manufacturing
The Prospect manufacturing survey
25th October 2008 — Issue 151
Many of the old industries have gone and its image is still poor, but British manufacturing has reinvented itself over the past 20 years and remains an essential part of the economy—as the government's new strategy paper acknowledges. The story is no longer one of grimy factories, but of high technology "knowledge industries"
For God and country
25th October 2008 — Issue 151
Ed Husain seems to think that all Islamists eventually become terrorists. But why single them out? What about racists, left wing sympathisers, or even people who care about animals and the environment?
The struggle for Africa
25th October 2008 — Issue 151
Jacob Zuma may force Africa to become more democratic. But will this lead to greater prosperity?
Prospect think tank of the year award 2008
25th October 2008 — Issue 151
This year we judged think tanks not only on their ideas, but also on how much impact they made on policy makers and the public, writes David Walker.
Mixing it
25th October 2008 — Issue 151
We may be underestimating the economic benefits of migration and diversity
The power of unreason
25th October 2008 — Issue 151
Obama has been winning the debates and is striding ahead in the polls—which is why he now has more to fear than ever before
Turning Japanese
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As overstretched financial institutions collapse, we are learning to fear debt—like Japan in the 1990s
The swinish multitude
25th October 2008 — Issue 151
Edward Skidelsky's attack on today's liberal values simply betrays his own wish to be God
The rest is silence
25th October 2008 — Issue 151
America's universities sheltered David Foster Wallace—and almost ruined his writing
Russia or the west?
25th October 2008 — Issue 151
Gerhard Schröder and Joschka Fischer disagreed about which way Germany should tilt
Open carefully
25th October 2008 — Issue 151
Immigration anxiety is in decline, partly because our borders are now more secure. We don't need a cap
South side story
25th October 2008 — Issue 151
The key to understanding Barack Obama isn't to be found in Hawaii, but in Chicago's Hyde Park
How the master lost his voice
25th October 2008 — Issue 151
Over a prolific career spanning five decades, Philip Roth has grown into America's most important living writer. Yet his talent remains a restless, paradoxical one—and, in his latest novel, the tensions fuelling it seem to have dissipated from ferocity into nostalgia
Defending the indefensible
25th October 2008 — Issue 151
Social philosophy can be an anaemic business in this post-ideological age. But Slavoj Zizek's most recent book shows that there's at least one person out there willing to take the fight to the masses
Hell is other people
25th October 2008 — Issue 151
Zöe Heller's first two novels won her a reputation as a leading chronicler of middle-class viciousness. Her latest is equally acerbic but also introduces a subtler and more satisfying note of compassion
Primed to explode
25th October 2008 — Issue 151
Was it greed or ignorance that fuelled the sub-prime crisis? David Miles looks at two new books divided both on this question, and on what to do about it
Widescreen
25th October 2008 — Issue 151
After 20 years, I've discovered how to persuade people to watch weird films. Throw in naked swimming at 3am off the coast of Scotland
Performance notes
25th October 2008 — Issue 151
Tickets to great performances have never been so cheap or widely available—and yet so hard to get. Plus, why has Glyndebourne ditched Mozart?
Smallscreen
25th October 2008 — Issue 151
With its novel approach to the Holocaust, a BBC2 "talking heads" drama rebuts David Hare's claim that the single play on television is dead
The second person
25th October 2008 — Issue 151
You know what I'm like. I know what you're like. But we can't say it right
Matters of taste
25th October 2008 — Issue 151
Can a goy make proper chicken soup? For a dish so steeped in legend, the recipe is amazingly simple. The big problem is finding the right kind of chicken
Washington watch
25th October 2008 — Issue 151
Swing states, money, voter registration, advertising—forget the "transformative" hype, this is going to be just another American presidential election
China café
25th October 2008 — Issue 151
Living on a mountain adds to the problem of finding a good school. Our nearest town is 40 minutes' drive away. Should my daughter be a boarder, like the other six year olds?
Speculations
25th October 2008 — Issue 151
Heard the one about the three theories of humour? Jokes are about humiliation, the release of inhibitions, or absurdity. The end of the world itself has the logical form of a joke. Geddit?
Lab report
25th October 2008 — Issue 151
New Orleans survived Hurricane Gustav, but rising ocean temperatures are making tropical storms worse. Can remote-controlled wind-powered boats save the day?
This sporting life
25th October 2008 — Issue 151
Will the 2012 Olympics make us healthier as a nation? No chance—we'll have to get on our bikes and do it ourselves. Plus, what Manchester City tells us about capitalism
Brussels diary
25th October 2008 — Issue 151
Do we really need the Lisbon reforms to EU foreign policy? So long as a big country is in the hotseat when crisis breaks, all will be well. Plus, how is Mandy planning for his legacy?
Confessions
25th October 2008 — Issue 151
Trying to get a letter printed in the New Yorker makes publishing a first novel look easy. As I discovered, it can also fuel the most shameless kind of intellectual fetish