December 2009 Issue 18

Manchester Square 3

Counterpoints Podgy predictions; Research rot; Sentimental justice; Obama and Iran; Act on sovereignty; Wind of climate change 10 Columns Jurisprudence Joshua Rozenberg condemns the misuse of “lawfare” against Israel 18

Marketplace Tim Congdon explains how the UK was saved from financial ruin 19 Living History Michael Burleigh wonders whether history is repeating itself in Afghanistan 20 The Outsider Douglas Murray attacks Nick Clegg’s evasions on anti-Semitism 21 Points East & West Emanuele Ottolenghi says we’re wrong to pin our hopes on Russia over Iran 22 European Eye Mara Delius recalls how she fell in love with England 23 The Mole Our insider reveals why he won’t miss working in academia 24 Letters Dignity of death; Silence is golden; Transgender bias; Boulez isn’t so bad; Helping your local; Mistaken identities 26 Dispatches Vanessa Neumann rides tall down on the ranch in deepest Montana 28 Feature A bold voice at a miserable time Gina Thomas highlights the bravery of Adam von Trott 50

Coverlines The price of Cameron’s compassion Daniel Johnson considers the origins, aims and costs of the Conservative leader’s “Big Society” 36

Dialogue What would Keynes say? Tim Congdon and Robert Skidelsky go head to head on the great economist’s message for today 30

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On the contrary Lionel Shriver worries about a weighty family problem 17

Web Sightings In her new column about the internet, Frances Weaver examines Twitter 25

Features Is the internet a tool of tyranny? Nick Cohen warns against censorship on the Web 40

When humans are just pieces of cargo Caroline Moorehead reports on the rise in global trafficking 44

COVER ILLUSTRATION byandrécariliho

Civilisation Critique Dan Jacobson: Eliot versus Hardy 54 Books Eric Ormsby on A History of Christianity: The First Three Thousand Years by Diarmaid MacCulloch and A New History of Early Christianity by Charles Freeman; Ferdinand Mount on the Oxford Dictionary of Quotations, seventh edition, edited by Elizabeth Knowles and the Oxford Companion to English Literature, seventh edition, edited by Dinah Birch; Alexander Waugh on Harmony and Discord: The Real Life of Johann Sebastian Bach by Julian Shuckburgh; Robert Low on Papa Spy by Jimmy Burns; Louis Amis on The Humbling by Philip Roth; and Richard Godwin on The Original of Laura by Vladimir Nabokov 56 Film Peter Whittle celebrates the conservatism behind vigilante movies 66 Television Nick Cohen admires the liberalism of Garrow’s Law 67 Music Jessica Duchen applauds a new staging of Handel’s Messiah 69 Art Michael Prodger examines a very British sub-genre: the conversation piece 70 Theatre Minette Marrin compares three plays about identity and angst 71 Text Jeremy Hugh Baron How much should we know about our leaders’ health? 72 Hamish Robinson New Verse 76 Imagination Party Lines Daisy Waugh overhears parents’ worry about sex education; Whatever by Peter Blegvad The Saga of Smit & Smule continues 77 Drawing Board Matthew Carr portraits and studies 78 Overrated/Underrated Al Gore/Vaclav Klaus by Myron Ebell 80 Chess Dominic Lawson pays tribute to a modest master 82

Standpoint www.standpointmag.co.uk

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