CONTRIBUTORS TO THIS ISSUE

REZA ASLAN is the author of No god but God: The Origins, Evolution and Future of Islam (William Heinemann)

BOB BISCHOF is vice chairman of the German-British Forum

RICHARD BOURKE lectures in history at Queen Mary, University of London

PAUL BROKS is the author of Into the Silent Land (Atlantic Books)

BARTLE BULL is an author and journalist

NICK CLEGG is Liberal Democrat MP for Sheffield Hallam

LINDA COLLEY is professor of history at Princeton University

DAVID FLEMING is author of the forthcoming book The Lean Economy

DAVID HERMAN is a television producer and writer

CHARLES JENCKS is the author of The Iconic Building (Frances Lincoln)

DANIEL JOHNSON is writing a book about chess and the cold war

TIM KING is a writer living in France

BEN LEWIS ’s film about Wim Delvoye will appear in the series Art Safari on BBC4 later this year

MAGNUS LINKLATER is a columnist for the Times and Scotland on Sunday

DAVID LIPSEY is chair of the electoral reform group Make Votes Count

JOHN LLOYD edits the FT magazine

ALEX MCBRIDE is a criminal barrister living in London

BILL MCGUIRE is director of the Benfield hazard research centre at UCL and author of Surviving Armageddon (OUP)

MICHAEL MOORCOCK is the author of Mother London (Scribner)

FINTAN O’TOOLE is a columnist for the Irish Times

BOB ROWTHORN is a professor of economics at Cambridge University

KAMILA SHAMSIE ’s most recent novel is Broken Verses (Bloomsbury)

IAN STEWART is a professor of mathematics at Warwick University

DEYAN SUDJIC is the author of The Edifice Complex (Allen Lane)

NATASHA WALTER edited On the Move: Feminism for a New Generation (Virago)

PATRICK WEST is author of The Poverty of Multiculturalism (Civitas, forthcoming)

4PROSPECT June 2005

contents Issue one hundred and eleven June 2005

COVER STORY

22Can we still believe in iconic buildings?

CHARLES JENCKS VS

DEYAN SUDJIC

Norman Foster’s “gherkin” in London, Frank Gehry’s Bilbao Guggenheim—is this the age of the iconic building?Or are they just expressions of political and architectural vanity?Two leading critics debate.

Jencks & Sudjic will also debate at the

Hay festival. See page 58 for details

OPINIONS 12Democracy ofbelievers

REZA ASLAN For a model that combines democracy and belief Iraq should look to Israel.

14No more uranium

DAVID FLEMING There is not enough uranium on the planet for a global nuclear industry.

15Locusts out

BOB BISCHOF Germany is rightly worried that its model is being hollowed out.

16The blind voter

DAVID LIPSEY The case for electoral reform is stronger than ever.

17A bitter consensus

RICHARD BOURKE Because the violence is over Northern Irish voters are free to back hardliners.

ESSAYS 28Cold war chess

DANIEL JOHNSON The rise and fall of chess in the 20th century was intimately linked with the cold war. Deprived of the menace that characterised that era, chess is no longer the force it once was.

34Prejudice & evolution

NATASHA WALTER If the forward march of women has slowed, it is partly because of new scientific claims that remaining sex inequality is grounded in human nature. Most of the theories do not bear close examination.

40Catastrophe watch

BILL McGUIRE Mega-tsunamis, super-eruptions and cosmic winters—such events are not just science fiction. The tsunami has helped focus minds on the potential dangers. We must act now. www.prospect-magazine.co.uk

WITNESS 45Iraq’s rebel democrats

BARTLE BULL Muqtada al-Sadr’s populist Shia rebels, who last year battled with US forces in Najaf, are now deeply involved in politics. They provide a case study of a rebel movement tentatively embracing democracy.

MY STORY 54Dilemma in the dock

ALEX McBRIDE It is my first case. I am defending two young men accused ofassault. Suddenly their interests diverge. What do I do?

COLUMNS 10Out ofmind

PAUL BROKS Music—solvent of the soul.

19Washington watch

TUMBLER The Brits are going European.

44France profonde

TIM KING Maybe Blairism doesn’t lead to hell.

53Brussels diary

MANNEKEN PIS Farewell Denis—you knew too much.

80These islands

PATRICK WEST The return of the football hooligan.

REGULARS 6Letters 8News & curiosities plus Enigmas & puzzles IAN STEWART 17Numbers game THE CRUNCHER 18Mini interview NICK CLEGG 75Classifieds 78The generalist DIDYMUS 79The list

arts&books

68Blair’s slaggy prolespeak

JOHN LLOYD Piers Morgan regards politics as a branch of showbiz. And the politicians let him get away with it.

FICTION 56Cake

MICHAEL MOORCOCK In a parallel Westminster, my ex-lover is grooming herself for power.

REVIEWS 62The clank ofIrish bones

FINTAN O’TOOLE John Banville ignores the skeleton cupboard of Irish literature, preferring art and style to the nightmare of history. And that makes him Irish.

64A mortal nation too

LINDA COLLEY An inability to listen to others is common to the nationalism of small countries with troubled histories—like Israel. So why is it also true ofthe US?

66Evolutionary economics

BOB ROWTHORN By viewing economics as a cousin of biology, it is easier to see how small causes can have very big effects.

CULTURAL TOURIST 72Maestro ofthe Orkney isles

MAGNUS LINKLATER How did the Orkneys shape one of Europe’s most striking musical events? Plus news and listings.

COLUMNS 61Private view

BEN LEWIS Shit an’ tattoos.

70Musical notes

KAMILA SHAMSIE Wake up and hear the kafi.

74Smallscreen

DAVID HERMAN Marr’s triumph, Paxman’s disgrace.

FORTHCOMING

David Willetts on the possible rebirth of Tory England

Joe Roeber on the arms industry

Stella Tillyard meets Alan Hollinghurst

Hans Kundnani on 1968 and Germany’s red-green rulers

THE NEXT ISSUE OF PROSPECT IS PUBLISHED ON 23RD JUNE

POLITICAL PUBLICATION OF THE YEAR

Political Studies Association

PROSPECT June 2005 5