Prospec

ISSUE 132 MARCH 2007

contents

CONTRIBUTORS TO THIS ISSUE

PHILIP BALL ’s most recent book is The Devil’s Doctor (Heinemann) PETER BAZALGETTE is chairman of Endemol DAVID CLARK was special adviser to Robin Cook at the foreign office,1997-2001 MARK COUSINS is the author of The Story of Film (Pavilion Books) JASON COWLEY is a senior editor at the Observer ALEX DE WAAL is a director at the Social Science Research Council MARGARET DRABBLE ’s most recent novel is The Sea Lady (Fig Tree) RONALD DWORKIN is a professor of law and philosophy at New York University TERRY EAGLETON is professor of cultural theory at the University of Manchester CHARLES GRANT is director of the Centre for European Reform CHRISTOPHER HIRD is joint managing director of Fulcrum Productions JIM HOLT writes for the NYTMagazine JOHN KAY is the author of The Truth About Markets (Penguin) NIBRAS KAZIMI is a visiting fellow at the Hudson Institute, Washington LUCY KELLAWAY is a columnist for the FT JAMES LASDUN ’s second novel Seven Lies is published by Jonathan Cape NORMAN LEBRECHT is presenter of lebrecht.live on BBC Radio 3 BEN LEWIS presents BBC4’s Art Safari GEOFFREY MILLER is assistant professor of psychology, University of New Mexico PHILIP OLTERMANN coedited How I Write: The Secret Lives of Authors (Rizzoli, April) LEWIS PAGE is a writer. He is also a former naval officer and mine clearance diver NICK PEARCE is director of the IPPR JONATHAN POWER writes on foreign affairs for the International Herald Tribune MICHAEL PREST is a freelance writer specialising in business and economics ALEX RENTON won the 2006 Glenfiddich award for best food writer ROBERT SKIDELSKY is professor emeritus of political economy at Warwick University ED SMITH is captain of Middlesex county cricket club IAN STEWART is professor of mathematics at Warwick University BELLA THOMAS is programme director at the Ax:son Johnson Foundation, Sweden

COVER STORY

Left versus right defined the 20th century.What’s next?

24A hundred Prospect contributors responded to our question (some in the magazine, the rest on our website). The pessimism of their responses is striking: almost nobody expects the world to get better in the coming decades, and many think it will get much worse.

OPINIONS

14 House proud PETER BAZALGETTE Big Brother plays an important role in challenging stereotypes.

15 Liberal adoption RONALD DWORKIN We should let Catholics follow their beliefs over gay adoption.

16 Numbers games JOHN KAY A new bill proposes an independent ONS, but doesn’t mean what it says.

17 Illiberal lefts DAVID CLARK Nick Cohen seems not to know that much of the left has always been illiberal.

18 The nannyish state JIM HOLT Our “better selves” need some outside help in dealing with temptation.

19 Reasonable extremist BELLA THOMAS Ayaan Hirsi Ali is only an extremist to those who want to split the difference.

INTERVIEW

30 Pervez Musharraf JONATHAN POWER Pakistan’s president discusses the Kashmir dispute and backs the idea of buying up Afghanistan’s poppy crop.

ESSAYS

36 The poor bloody infantry LEWIS PAGE The lives of British soldiers are being sacrificed to save jobs in an inefficient domestic arms industry.

42 The future of proof IAN STEWART Does the use of computers mean the death of mathematical proof?

45 When the music stopped NORMAN LEBRECHT The culture of classical recording is dying as major labels slash outputs and the internet returns music, once more, to the ether.

50 Putin’s patrimony ROBERT SKIDELSKY Russia’s president has fused power and property. The consequences may be dire.

WITNESS

58 What happened to the Windies? ED SMITH The West Indies dominated cricket in the 1970s and 1980s, then fell into steep decline. What went wrong?

BRIEFING NOTES

64 Darfur—the crisis explained ALEX DE WAAL A guide to the war in Sudan’s Darfur region. Is it genocide?

4 Prospect MARCH 2007