May 2026 issue
The Iran war has destabilised the Middle East and the global economy, our experts set out what happens next. Plus, Michael Ignatieff on the implications of Hungary's election, Sheila Hancock revels in the joys of spring and Theroux and the manosphere
Past issues
Illustration by Gregori Saavedra
Middle East
Beyond the Iran war
The US-Israeli attack on Iran has destabilised the Middle East and the global economy. We asked experts to explain what will happen next
Editor’s Picks
Why artificial intelligence is no substitute for real learning
Ethan Zuckerman
© Jonathan Porter / Alamy Stock Photo
Hungary: vanguard of the counter-revolution
Michael Ignatieff
Illustration by David McAllister / Prospect. Source: Alamy
Are Reform and the Greens battle ready?
Carys Afoko
Illustration by Priya Mistry
Just a fling? The women writing about infidelity in 2026
Ellen Peirson-Hagger
Illustration by Clara Nicoll
Sheila Hancock: I am thrilled to have survived for my 93rd spring
Sheila Hancock
Illustration by Michael Rea
Zack Polanski: My celebrity crush is Idris Elba
Regulars
Illustration by David McAllister / Prospect. Sources: Jack Sullivan, Dieter Moebus / Alamy
Editorial: The public square should be open to all faiths
Prospect
Letters: May 2026
Stephen Collins’s cartoon: Elon’s intervention
Stephen Collins
Illustration by Michael Rea
Zack Polanski: My celebrity crush is Idris Elba
Argument
Nigel Farage speaks at the Reform UK Scotland manifesto launch. Image: PA Images / Alamy
Reform UK, the party with the burn rate of a start-up
Ben Ansell
Illustration by Prospect / Alamy
Bringing Kant to a bar fight
Sasha Mudd
Why artificial intelligence is no substitute for real learning
Ethan Zuckerman
Illustration by Prospect. Source: Alamy
Embedded with Reform: Think, Tank!
Henry Morris
Reversing nature’s decline
Hilary McGrady
Beyond the war: The global consequences of the Iran conflict
Illustration by Gregori Saavedra
Beyond the Iran war
© Alamy/GSaavedra/Prospect
What Trump wants from the Iran war
Daniel C Kurtzer
© Alamy/GSaavedra/Prospect
The UK is not ready for war
George Robertson
© Alamy/GSaavedra/Prospect
Starmer, and Britain, may yet suffer Trump’s retribution
Kim Darroch
© Alamy/GSaavedra/Prospect
The Iran war could benefit China
Isabel Hilton
© Alamy/GSaavedra/Prospect
The ‘Axis of Resistance’ ideology is crumbling
Elizabeth Tsurkov
© Alamy/GSaavedra/Prospect
Three consequences of the Iran war
Daron Acemoglu
© Alamy/GSaavedra/Prospect
Donald Trump has ignored American law
Jonathan Sumption
© Alamy/GSaavedra/Prospect
Will the Iran war create a migrant crisis in Europe?
Gerald Knaus
© Alamy/GSaavedra/Prospect
As an Iranian, I have dreamed of a democracy all my life
Arash Azizi
Features
Illustration by David McAllister / Prospect. Source: Alamy
Are Reform and the Greens battle ready?
Carys Afoko
Members of the Rapid Support Forces drive in a converted pick up truck fitted with a machine gun In Tongoli this February. Photography by Guy Peterson
Sudan’s war in the mountains
Sophie Neiman
© Jonathan Porter / Alamy Stock Photo
Hungary: vanguard of the counter-revolution
Michael Ignatieff
Image: Shutterstock/Prospect
The rise of facial recognition policing
Mark Wilding
People
“I don’t feel as though I’ve made any dents in the unpleasant side of our world.” Don McCullin in 2026. Image: Jane Hilton / The Observer / Eyevine
Don McCullin’s war of conscience
David McAllister
Menna Fitzpatrick, right, and her guide Katie Guest in Milan this year. Image: ParalympicsGB
The Paralympic duo competing for GB
Emeline Forton
Bill Bailey: ‘People love to put a label on you’
Graeme Green
Dorothy Tse’s lost city
Imaan Irfan
The Culture
Illustration by Priya Mistry
Just a fling? The women writing about infidelity in 2026
Ellen Peirson-Hagger
Image: Yves Salmon / Guardian / eyevine
No capital-B black person: an interview with Brandon Taylor
Daniel Rey
The 20th century’s second-most iconic genius in repose. Image: Alamy
The eternal relevance of Ludwig Wittgenstein
Tom Clark
Illustration by David McAllister / Prospect. Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art / Alamy
Bernard Williams’s reckoning with history
Jane O'Grady
Books in Brief: what to read this April
Illustration by David McAllister / Prospect. Source: Alamy
Uh-oh. Audiophilia is back
Laura Barton
William Burroughs as he appears in “Nova ’78”. Source: YouTube
William Burroughs, film junky
Sukhdev Sandhu
Louis Theroux with Harrison Sullivan in “Inside the Manosphere”. Source: Alamy
Mano a mano: Louis Theroux vs the manosphere
Imogen West-Knights
Classical notes: Expect the unexpected
Ian Bostridge
Lives
Illustration by Clara Nicoll
Sheila Hancock: I am thrilled to have survived for my 93rd spring
Sheila Hancock
Illustration by Clara Nicholl
Second life: AI thinks I have made millions from Yeezy sneakers
Vitali Vitaliev
Illustration of Tilly Lawless by Clara Nicoll
Sex life: The real prison scandal isn’t an officer having sex with an inmate
Tilly Lawless
Illustration by Clara Nicoll
Clerical life: The Church of England is running out of wardens
Alice Goodman
Illustration by Clara Nicoll
Mindful life: How OCD made me forget how to speak
Sarah Collins
Illustration by Clara Nicoll
Young life: The pool of eligible bachelors is rapidly diminishing
Alice Garnett
Politics is worth falling out with family over
Kiran Sidhu
© DPA Picture Alliance / Alamy
Obituary: Jürgen Habermas
Philip Collins
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