Contributors

Brian Allen is Director of Studies at the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art, London. Louis Amis is a writer-at-large for Standpoint, based in Rio de Janeiro. Katherine Bergen is a freelance writer on politics and culture. Nigel Biggar is the Regius Professor of Moral and Pastoral Theology at the University of Oxford. Julie Bindel is a journalist and feminist campaigner. She is researching a  book on the history of second-wave feminism. Conrad Black is an author, historian and publisher. He is appealing against the sixyear sentence he is serving at Coleman Federal Correctional Complex, Florida. Michael Burleigh’s latest book, Moral Combat: A History of World War II, is published by HarperPress. Lesley Chamberlain’s most recent book is The Philosophy Steamer: Lenin and the Exile of the Intelligentsia. Nick Cohen is an Observer columnist. He writes a blog at standpointmag.co.uk/nickcohen Tim Congdon is an economist and chief executive of International Monetary Research Ltd. Anthony Daniels’s latest book, as Theodore Dalrymple, Spoilt Rotten, is published by Gibson Square. Mara Delius writes for the culture section of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. Jessica Duchen is a music journalist, biographer and novelist. She blogs on music at standpointmag.co.uk/jessica-duchen Tim Fuller is a professor at Colorado College. He was co-editor, with Shirley Letwin, of the Selected Works of Michael Oakeshott. Geoffrey Hill is a poet and academic. He is an honorary fellow of Keble College, Oxford and Emmanuel College, Cambridge and fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. Nichi Hodgson is a freelance writer on arts, culture and sexuality. Ben Judah is a freelance foreign correspondent specialising in Russian affairs. William Kristol is the founder and editor of the Weekly Standard and a board member of US think-tanks Foreign Policy Initiative and Keep America Safe. Walter Laqueur is an historian and political commentator and the author of, most recently, The Last Days of Europe and Best of Times, Worst of Times. Dominic Lawson is a columnist for the Sunday Times and the Independent. Angela Levin is a journalist and broadcaster, who writes mainly for the Mail on Sunday. Noel Malcolm is a Senior Research Fellow at All Souls College, Oxford. Justin Marozzi is researching a history of Baghdad.

Chris Woodhead Piers Paul Read

Peter Stanford

Daisy Waugh

Alex Woolfson

Lesley Chamberlain

Julia Pettengill

Katherine Bergen

Minette Marrin is a writer, broadcaster and columnist for the Sunday Times. Allan Massie has recently published two books: a family history of The Royal Stuarts (Jonathan Cape), and a novel, Death in Bordeaux (Quartet). Tim Montgomerie is editor of the ConservativeHome website. Caroline Moore is a writer and reviewer. Douglas Murray is the director of the Centre for Social Cohesion. Emanuele Ottolenghi is a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defence of Democracies. Julia Pettengill is Director of the Campaign for the Responsibility to Protect at the Henry Jackson Society. Melanie Phillips is a columnist for the Daily Mail and Jewish Chronicle. Her latest book is The World Turned Upside Down: The Global Battle over God, Truth and Power (Encounter). Michael Prodger is literary editor of the Sunday Telegraph. Piers Paul Read’s new novel The Misogynist is published by Bloomsbury. Joshua Rozenberg  presents Law in Action on BBC Radio 4. He writes a blog on legal affairs at standpointmag.co.uk/law Neil Scolding is the Burden Professor of Clinical Neurosciences at Bristol University. Lionel Shriver’s new novel, So Much for That, is published by HarperCollins. Peter Stanford’s latest book is  The Extra Mile: A 21st Century Pilgrimage (Continuum). Gisela Stuart is Labour MP for Birmingham Edgbaston. Daisy Waugh writes novels and two columns in the Sunday Times. Peter Whittle is Standpoint’s film critic and director of the New Culture Forum. He blogs on politics and the arts at standpointmag.co.uk/peter-whittle Chris Woodhead is the chairman of Cognita and the Stanley Kalms Professor of Education at the University of Buckingham. Alexander Woolfson is a BBC defence analyst and is pursuing doctoral research at the London School of Economics. Special Thanks to Nick Redgrove and Berenika Stefanska

Letters Standpoint welcomes letters to the Editor. Write to: Standpoint, 11 Manchester Square, London W1U 3PW or: letters@standpointmag.co.uk Please include your address and telephone number.

6

July/August 2010

Standpoint July/August 2010 Issue 24

C A R R I L HO

éandr by

I L LU S T R AT ION

C OV E R

Manchester Square 5 CounterpointsBrit-freeBasra;Airbrushing oppression; Mama grizzlies; Northern frights; Cross at St George; Unaccountable 8

Columns Jurisprudence Joshua Rozenberg has his day in court 14 On the contrary Lionel Shriver defends her creation of a crossbow-killer 15 Marketplace Tim Congdon deplores the continuing persecution of bankers 16 Guest Speaker Gisela Stuart urges Germany to leave the euro 17 Points East & West Emanuele Ottolenghi says Turkey has no right to claim the moral high ground 18 Living History Michael Burleigh assesses the place of morality in time of war 19 The Outsider Douglas Murray argues that old political labels don’t apply to Geert Wilders 20 European Eye Mara Delius tells a tale of two presidents 22 The Mole Our insider in the celebrity kitchen charts the fall to earth of a Michelin star 24

Web Sightings Frances Weaver compares disasters that befall writers, past and present 25 Letters Woes of the West; Fitting in; The real nasty parties 26

80

The maestro of his own fate Daniel Johnson examines Mahler’s tortured emotional life, his meeting with Freud and his musical legacy 56

Git Lit Why old age is all the rage Piers Paul Read provides a novel insight into our ageing population 54

This is how to set schools free, Mr Gove Chris Woodhead wants schools to set their own admissions policies 44

Text Geoffrey Hill: “I’m wired weird”, interview plus new poems 86

Feature History’s greatest Ponzi scheme Conrad Black deplores the behaviour of America’s bankers and politicians 48

Dispatches Ben Judah goes in search of the Yeti in Tajikistan 28 Katherine Bergen in Bahrain tracks the rise of women in politics and society 32

Dialogue Challenges for the Atlantic coalition William Kristol and Tim Montgomerie compare the problems facing the conservative movement in the US and the UK 34 Features Europe’s long road to the mosque Walter Laqueur considers the long-term impact of Islam on the continent 40 We have to be ready for anything Alexander Woolfson calls for a defence strategy fit for a great power 46 The healing power of forgiveness Peter Stanford witnesses a daring new prison rehabilitation project 52

Civilisation Critique Lesley Chamberlain explores the influence of Berlin on Nabokov 60 Books Noel Malcolm on Faith and Power: Religion and Politics in the Middle East by Bernard Lewis; Brian Allen on Caravaggio: A Life Sacred and Profane by Andrew GrahamDixon; Caroline Moore on The Making of the British Landscape by Francis Pryor; and Louis Amis on The Lost Books of the Odyssey by Zachary Mason 63

Film Peter Whittle says Woody Allen has got lost on the Upper West Side 68

Wireless Nick Cohen takes on the former Marxists of The Moral Maze 69

Music Jessica Duchen fears the demise of the piano recital 71

Art Michael Prodger is intrigued by a new exhibition that puts fakes under the microscope 72

Theatre Minette Marrin is enchanted by a reworking of All My Sons 73

Cosmos Neil Scolding ponders the facts of artificial life 75

TextNigel Biggar What are universities for? 76 Allan Massie Forbes at the Festival: A short story 80 Imagination Party Lines by Daisy Waugh; Whatever by Peter Blegvad: The Saga of Smit & Smule continues 93

Drawing Board Paula Rego Pastel, pencil and etching 94 Overrated/Underrated Saul Alinsky by Melanie Phillips Harvey Mansfield by Tim Fuller 96 Chess Dominic Lawson profiles three musical grandmasters 98

www.standpointmag.co.uk

Standpoint 7