Features
Four Days of Terror in Mumbai
It is all too clear that the Mumbai terrorists were outstanding at their vocation. This was true in a purely technical military sense - after all, as few as ten of them were able to hold off the massed might of India's security forces, including her best commandos, for more than three days. But it was also true in a more important functional sense: they were highly effective at inspiring terror. They chose precisely the right targets in a country whose institutional and cultural weaknesses they understood and were able to exploit. Though the real horror of their attacks was the murders they committed and tried to commit, they inspired massive fear far away from the symbolic targets they chose. Indeed, what I found in Mumbai during the four long days of the emergency was that the fear they provoked increased the further you got from the loci of their actual attacks.
Saving Gemma from Her Carers
There are now 1,645,500 people employed by local authorities in England alone. Since that figure excludes teachers, the majority of the 1.6 million are bureaucrats. Some of them appear to do very little except prevent local people from organising local services in ways that they know will improve their own communities.
Everyone will have an example of local government incompetence, inefficiency and obstructiveness. I live in the London Borough of Hackney, a local authority that for decades has been a byword for incompetence, inefficiency and obstructiveness.
Bearhugged by Uncle Vlad
Germany's relationship with Vladimir Putin's Russia is the most puzzling and troubling feature of modern European politics. Not only is Germany Russia's biggest trading partner, it is also her biggest ally. It is Germany that has derailed Nato expansion. Germany reversed the EU's initially tough line on Russia after the invasion of Georgia. Germany prevents the Council of Europe scrutinising Russia's flawed elections. Germany forces the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development to channel money to companies run by Kremlin cronies. Germany keeps Europe's energy market rigged in favour of Russian gas imports.
A Novel Way to Treat a Writer
"Hi Sue, I'm doing your book, we have to read it and just wanna say it's the most boring crap book I ever read, so thanks a lot for ruining my life. Cheers."
"Hi Susan, we're doing your book, I've gotta do coursework only I don't understand about context, what is it, and I don't no any other gothic writers and we've got to compare you, what's gothic anyway. Pleeeeze reply asap."
"Hi. I've got this essay to do for tomoz, it's about I'm the king of the castle and does the setting play an important part in the story. Can you reply tonight and do it in bullet points so I can copy and paste it straight in. thanks you're a star in advance, cheers..."
"Hi, we have to do this essay on context with your book, and cultural context so what are those please, please explain carefully, I don't get it."
China's Rural Nightmare
The waves from the subprime disaster have reached China, where the bottom has dropped out of the packing-case industry. Americans, in particular, no longer want cheap goods made by migrant peasant women in the southern Chinese sweatshops. What is also plain is the folly of Beijing's deliberate destruction of the once-prosperous rural economy. Peasant uprisings, the nightmare that has kept Chinese rulers awake since the second century BC, are already causing panic in Beijing, where the official press reports hundreds of rural demonstrations against corrupt, land-grabbing officials.
Honourable Conspirators
Leaving aside his controversial belief in Scientology, Tom Cruise is not best known for portraying spiritual characters. But as his new film,the Second World War epic Valkyrie opens in the UK at the end of the month, Cruise will be identified with the genuine article. The man he plays, Claus Schenk, Count von Stauffenberg, embodied rare qualities unfamiliar to our debased age, more used as it is to "heroes" whose sole heroism consists of kicking a ball into the back of a net.
Don't Worry, Be Happy
"Heaven helps those who help themselves," wrote Samuel Smiles in 1859, a no-nonsense introduction to his straightforwardly titled publication, Self Help. Helping oneself, seeking self-improvement, striving to be better - these are noble instincts, grounded in and inspired by some of the most traditional and fundamental religious tenets. The Victorians enjoyed manuals of instruction, turning to the bookshelves for advice on business, diet and marriage, but Smiles could not have imagined the monsters that have since emerged from the Pandora's box of self-help, transmuted from a small publishing niche into a multi-billion dollar a year industry. It is unlikely he'd be smiling if he could.
Previous columns
A Foreign Affair: David Bowie in Berlin
TOBIAS RÜTHERDecember 2008
Haunted by Isherwood's shade, the British musician flirted with fascism, then became a hero to the youth of the communist East
Their's is to Reason Why
ANTHONY LOYDDecember 2008
A new generation of soldiers is as questioning of its role in Afghanistan as the society from which it is recruited
They Just Don't Get It
JONATHAN FOREMANDecember 2008
Many Britons - and even some Americans - have a false idea of what the US is really like. Are Hollywood and TV to blame?
Africa Has a Dream: Obama
R. W. JOHNSONDecember 2008
The new president will be welcomed by most ordinary Africans, if not by their rulers
A Norwegian Thatcher?
SIV JENSEN AND BRUCE BAWERDecember 2008
The leader of Norway's Progress Party, Siv Jensen, has a good chance of winning next year's election. In an interview with Standpoint editor Daniel Johnson, she explains her views; Bruce Bawer explains the background to her meteoric career
The Man Who Flew Too High
GILES MACDONOGHDecember 2008
Demagogue and darling of Austria's far-Right, Jörg Haider had power within his grasp. Why couldn't he seal the deal?
Out of the Twilight Zone
RICK JONESNovember 2008
An exhibition of WG Sebald's archives offers an intriguing view of the late UK-based emigré German writer's life and loves
The Future of Unholy War
SHIRAZ MAHERNovember 2008
The story of al-Qaeda's lost leader, Abdullah Azzam, illuminates the murderous nature of global jihad
Grey Power Time Bomb
PHILIP BOOTHNovember 2008
Political parties are being held to ransom by older voters. And it's the young who are paying the price
What Should We Do About Russia?
EDWARD LUCASNovember 2008
The West must start to show the Kremlin it means business
All at Sea Over Pirates
MICHAEL BURLEIGHNovember 2008
Piracy on the high seas, especially near failed and unstable Muslim states, is becoming an international security headache
Beware the Obama Machine
AMIR TAHERINovember 2008
When I drew attention to the two-faced tactics of the Democratic candidate over Iraq, his ‘militants’ turned nasty
Hell Hath No Fury Like a Feminist Scorned
MIDGE DECTERNovember 2008
Sarah Palin's selection as John McCain's running mate aroused unprecedented rage and delight, especially among women - but why?
A Tory Vision for Europe
RODNEY LEACHOctober 2008
Suddenly, the Conservatives are in tune with voters across the continent - and can lead the way to a more democratic EU
We Can't All Make the Grade
CHARLES MURRAYOctober 2008
The romantic belief, common to Left and Right, that every child is capable of academic success has been proved wrong
South Ossetia is Not Kosovo
NOEL MALCOLMOctober 2008
Moscow has accused the West of double standards, but the former Yugoslav province has a cast-iron case for independence - unlike the secessionists in Georgia
Is David Cameron a Thatcherite?
BRUCE ANDERSON AND ROBIN HARRISOctober 2008
Bruce Anderson debates Robin Harris on David Cameron's Thatcherite credentials
Through a Glass Darkly
MARK FALCOFFOctober 2008
Black and white supporters of Barack Obama are voting for very different presidents
The New Anti-Semitism
ROBERT SOLOMON WISTRICHOctober 2008
The West has adopted a disturbingly complacent attitude towards those who consistently advocate a "world without Israel".
Pope on a Mission to Surprise
GEORGE WEIGELOctober 2008
Benedict XVI has confounded the critics who expected him to be a 'caretaker' pontiff
Patriot, Poet and Prophet
ROBERT CONQUESTSeptember 2008
The leading Western historian of Stalinism's horrors first met Alexander Solzhenitsyn when the novelist was expelled from the USSR in 1974. Here he recalls his genius and his courage
What Do We Mean by 'Art'?
RICHARD EYRESeptember 2008
Art is not culture or entertainment, it is complexity, the 'I' in life, ambition, the ambiguity of humanity, serious about itself
The End of 'Chimerica'
NIALL FERGUSONSeptember 2008
The delicate balance of power between China and American is unstable and the geopolitical consequences will affect us all
Would You Mind Turning It Down?
PETER WHITTLESeptember 2008
When I tried to confront anti-social behaviour, nobody dared to back me up. So what's wrong with us?
France Finally Forgets Vichy
ALLAN MASSIESeptember 2008
The humiliation of 1940 has cast a baleful shadow over France's postwar history. Can Nicolas Sarkozy, the first president too young to be tainted by it, usher in a new era?
The Truth About the Historical Jesus
GEZA VERMESSeptember 2008
The leading authority on the Dead Sea Scrolls draws a portrait of Jesus the Jew
Out of This World
JERALD BLOCKAugust 2008
Pathological Computer Use is being recognised as a real disorder, but little is known about how to treat compulsive gamers who spend much of their lives in virtual worlds
Betraying the State of Israel
SIDNEY BRICHTOAugust 2008
Jews fail to understand anti-Semitism disguised as anti-Zionism
Getting to Know the Dalai Lama
PICO IYERAugust 2008
The monk who has lead Tibetans for 68 years sees the Beijing Olympics as a chance to convert the Chinese to his cause
A New Mutiny?
JONATHAN FOREMANAugust 2008
Away from the tourist trail, India is threatened by the Maoism that toppled Nepal's monarchy
ITV's Last Gasp
ALASDAIR PALMERAugust 2008
Savaged by a regime that sacrificed quality for cash, the network needs to return to striking and original programmes. Can Michael Grade pull it off, or is ITV’s decline terminal?
American Revolution
GERARD BAKERJuly 2008
Barack Obama has the mood, the momentum and the money in his favour - but John McCain's character and record could yet swing November's presidential election for the Republicans
China, Red in Tooth and Claw
GEORGE WALDENJuly 2008
Wolf Totem is a disconcerting mixture of nationalism, lupine metaphors and nostalgia for the age of nomads. But what does the novel’s runaway success tell us of the aspirations of the new China?
Faking a Killing
MELANIE PHILLIPSJuly 2008
The world reacted with horror when it saw a 12-year-old boy shot dead by Israeli soldiers. But the footage, it transpires, told a lie
Christianity, Secularisation and Islam
AIDAN NICHOLS OPJuly 2008
In the second in our series on religion and public life, a leading Dominican theologian argues that only a recovery of the Judeo-Christian tradition can enable Islam to find its place in Britain
The Ministers of Sound
TIM BLANNINGJuly 2008
From the Beatles and Wilson to Bono and Blair, the rise of rock stars to power and influence has tempted leaders all over the world to cultivate them - even at the risk of ridicule
Science Is Golden
MICHAEL HANLONJune 2008
We must pay for cathedrals of knowledge if scientists are to solve the great mysteries of the universe
Breaking Faith With Britain
MICHAEL NAZIR-ALIJune 2008
Christianity is central to British identity, but its marginalisation has created a moral vacuum which radical Islam threatens to fill
Putin's New Evil Empire
EDWARD LUCASJune 2008
The West is a gift to Kremlin propagandists; we should express more pride in our system that has given genuine freedom to millions
How To Defeat The Global Jihadists
MICHAEL BURLEIGHJune 2008
While America prepares for the next wave of terrorist attacks, Britain is sleepwalking. Yet it is not too late to avert disaster
Secret Justice, Private Hell
ALASDAIR PALMERJune 2008
Family courts are putting parents on trial for their children. Instead of helping to keep families together, these secretive tribunals are breaking them apart — often for trivial reasons
