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Neal Jones Furniture Ltd | 01200 429 669 | www.nealjonesfurniture.com | neal@nealjonesfurniture.com Contents over story 31 Guess who’s coming to dinner

We must see the Taliban through Afghan eyes. james fergusson opinions 20 Don’t bank on global reform

Why are there still no new rules for international finance? howard davies 21 A new passage to India ebuilding bridges. patrick french 22 Give the big society a break

David Cameron’s idea has potential. david halpern 23 Multinationals think local ost-BP, how should transnational companies operate? nick butler 24 Primary cause for concern

Not more new schools. judith judd correspondents 29 Letter from Colombia

How the “war on terror” was won here. tom streithorst eatures 35 Divided they stand

Fifteen years on from the war, Bosnia is still struggling—and ethnically fractured. janine di giovanni 40 A new age of fan power?

an Manchester United’s supporters topple its US owners? sam knight 46 Wanted: an old, new left he centre-left must reinvent itself and shape a new social patriotism. gavin kelly & nick pearce 50 Who guards the Guardian?

he newspaper group’s controversial business deals. peter morris science & technology 54 Nice to meet your big idea

How useful are global gatherings of great minds? tom chatfield

57 Picture this

A better way of identifying explosive devices. jon cartwright 58 Oil well that ends well losing the BP leak was a great feat of engineering. derek brower arts & books 63 The nature of beauty

An appreciation of nature or art is regarded as a mark of refinement— but are there simpler biological reasons why we love beautiful things? nicholas humphrey

67 How full is the glass?

wo “state we’re in” analyses by a pessimistic philosopher and an optimistic scientist are best taken with a tot of scepticism. simon blackburn 68 Imperfect spies

John le Carré’s anger ignites his new novel, but that can’t make up for a cast of unconvincing characters. julian evans 70 Struggling to surprise

Now the Edinburgh festival is part of the mainstream, has comedy lost its cutting edge? mary fitzgerald

FICTION 76 Voices

A new story by daniel kehlmann regulars 8 Prospect recommends 12 Diary 13 Dr Pangloss brian eno 14 Everyday philosophy nigel warburton 15 Number cruncher stephen nickell 18 Letters plus stephen collins’s cartoon strip. 85 Enigmas & puzzles ian stewart 86 The generalist didymus 87 The Prospect list columnists 7 If I ruled the world james hawes 10 Political notes anne mcelvoy 16 Economy class tim leunig 59 Sporting life david goldblatt 60 Matters of taste wendell steavenson 88 Dear Wilhemina correspondents 26 Washington watch renegade 27 Brussels diary manneken pis 28 China café mark kitto science & technology 56 Lab report philip ball 58 The month ahead anjana ahuja arts & books 66 Cultural notebook sam leith 69 Stage directions michael coveney 72 Words that think for us edward skidelsky 72 The way we were ian irvine 73 Widescreen mark cousins This month 74 FiveBooks simon baron-cohen on autism september 2010 · prospect · 5