Molecular biologists can now tell us who is related to whom in the chain of life

The newspaper editors who hounded Cedric Brown earn a lot more than he did. Derek Matthews comes to the defence of Britain's highly paid utility bosses

 

The French used to be proud of the Enarques, their ruling elite embodying an enlightened but monarchical vision of France. Dominique Moisi wonders if they are fit to take the country into the 21st...

The rule of law will not survive in Hong Kong when it returns to Chinese sovereignty next year. Steve Vines blames the colony's reactionary Chinese elite

Brussels diary

Where reform has been tried in Russia, democrats thrive. Communist strength, on the other hand, follows the path of Hitler's invasion

Africa's crises cannot be solved by redrawing borders. But economic reform, the decline of the urban middle class and the rise of tribalism are dissolving the old centralised post-colonial state

Dissent Spring 1996 Colin Powell's decision not to run for the Republican nomination both surprised and disappointed me. It also prompted a search for a satisfactory explanation. I began with the...

Why did the big mammals suddenly die out in America? Was it climate change or slaughter by native Americans? An event of more than 11,000 years ago is refracted through the lens of modern politics