Contributors

Elliott Abrams is a senior fellow for Middle Eastern Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington, DC. He was Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy National Security Adviser under George W. Bush. Katharine Birbalsingh is setting up a London free school, Michaela Community School. Her latest book is To Miss With Love (Penguin). Michael Burleigh is Professor of History at the University of Buckingham. Lesley Chamberlain’s most recent book is The Philosophy Steamer: Lenin and the Exile of the Intelligentsia. Nick Cohen is a columnist for the Observer. You Can’t Read This Book, his account of modern censorship, will be published by 4th Estate in January. Tim Congdon is chairman of the Freedom Association. His new book, Money in a Free Society, is published this month by Encounter. Michael Coren is a weekly columnist in Canada, host of the nightly primetime show The Arena and author of Why Catholics Are Right (Random House/Gracewing). Mara Delius is a writer and editor for the culture section of Die Welt. Myron Ebell is director of the Centre for Energy and Environment at the Competitive Enterprise Institute in Washington and chairman of the Cooler Heads Coalition. Jessica Duchen is a music journalist, biographer and novelist. Christopher Fildes is a financial journalist and former Spectator columnist. Mark Gullick has a doctorate in philosophy and is currently working on a screenplay. Saba Farzan writes on Iran for European newspapers and the Wall Street Journal. Tibor Fischer’s next work of fiction, Crushed Mexican Spiders, will be published online by Unbound Books. James Hannam is a historian and the author of God’s Philosophers: How the Medieval World Laid the Foundations of Modern Science. Daniel Hannan is a Conservative MEP for South East England. In 2009 he was awarded the Bastiat Prize for online journalism. Simon Heffer is Editor of Mail Comment online and a columnist for the Daily Mail. Paul Johnson’s biography of Socrates will be published by Viking in November. James Kelly is a researcher on the “Who were the Nuns?” project at Queen Mary, University of London. Dominic Lawson is a columnist for the Sunday Times and the Independent. Norman Lebrecht is an author and broadcaster. His latest book is Why Mahler? (Faber). Oliver Lewis has worked for the Conservative politicians Michael Gove and Andrew Lansley. He was involved with the launch of the first free schools. James MacMillan is a Scottish composer whose specially commissioned congregational Mass was performed when Pope Benedict

Elliott Abrams

Katharine Birbalsingh

Melanie Phillips

Justin Marozzi

Myron Ebell

Douglas Murray

Lesley Chamberlain

Andrew Roberts

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XVI beatified Cardinal Newman during his visit to Britain last year. Jamie Martin helped Michael Gove to develop the Conservative Party’s schools policy. Justin Marozzi is a travel writer, historian and political risk and communications adviser. He is researching a history of Baghdad. Anne McElvoy is Public Policy Editor of the Economist. Douglas Murray is the author of A Substantial Number of Shots: The Saville Inquiry into Bloody Sunday (Biteback), published next month. William Norton is the author of Monument and Bank: Capitalism and the Anglo-Saxon Mind (Social Affairs Unit). He was the agent for the victorious No Campaign in the 2011 referendum on the parliamentary voting system. Michael Novak is an author and theologian who held three ambassadorial posts under President Ronald Reagan. His most recent books are All Nature Is a Sacramental Fire and Living the Call: An Introduction to the Lay Vocation (co-authored). Emanuele Ottolenghi is a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defence of Democracies. Melanie Phillips is a columnist for the Daily Mail and Jewish Chronicle. The paperback edition of her book The World Turned Upside Down will be published by Encounter, New York, in December. Michael Prodger is an art historian and Senior Research Associate at the University of Buckingham. Andrew Roberts is a historian. His latest book is The Storm of War: A New History of the Second World War (Weidenfeld & Nicolson). Joshua Rozenberg presents Law in Action on BBC Radio 4. Alev Scott is an Istanbul-based writer. Lionel Shriver’s most recent book is So Much for That. The film of her novel We Need to Talk About Kevin opens in the UK this month. George Walden, a former diplomat and Conservative minister, is now a writer. His books include The New Elites: Making a Career in the Masses (Allen Lane), republished in paperback by Gibson Square. Daisy Waugh is a Sunday Times columnist. Peter Whittle is director of the New Culture Forum. His latest book is Monarchy Matters. With thanks to Oliver Wiseman and Emma Greensmith

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. October 2011 Issue 36

Manchester Square 9 Anarchy, entropy and war

Counterpoints Irksome interventionism; Sustainable stupidity; My beautiful scarves; Sweet music for Finns; Seasteads ahoy; Turkish togas 12

Letters Pinter’s plonk; Holocaust hijacking; Reporting on Israel; Kamikaze pilots; Almodóvar is OK 18

Columns Free at last Katharine Birbalsingh starts her new column on free schools 20 The Outsider’s Diary Douglas Murray launches his monthly notebook with a Harvard wedding and a blast at tattoos 21 Party Lines Daisy Waugh eavesdrops on ticked-off taxpayers 22 On the Contrary Lionel Shriver is underwhelmed by Obama’s jobs bill 23 Points East & West Emanuele Ottolenghi says Turkey wants to head a new Ottoman Empire 24 Living History Michael Burleigh re-examines the military contribution of British Muslims 25 European Eye Mara Delius decries Europe’s vacuous public intellectuals 26 Jurisprudence Joshua Rozenberg wonders how Britain might improve the European Court of Human Rights 27

Dialogue Nick Cohen and George Walden dissect the shortcomings of Britain’s new elites 28

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C OV E R

Civilisation Critique James MacMillan explores the links between politics and folk music 59

How to get America back on track Against Obama’s doctrine of decline Elliott Abrams denounces the president’s cowardice abroad 36 The poor need a truly creative jobs plan Michael Novak says taxing the wealthy deprives the disadvantaged too 38

How America’s climate of opinion changed Myron Ebell questions the green consensus 41

Dispatches Justin Marozzi reports from Tripoli on the fast-changing post-Gaddafi scene 34

Features The battle for the soul of English education Oliver Lewis and Jamie Martin argue that lessons can be learned from America’s charter schools 44 The end of Europe’s fantasy is now in sight Daniel Hannan heralds the unravelling of the European Union 46 The odd couple who presided over disaster Tim Congdon shares Alistair Darling’s frustration with Gordon Brown and Mervyn King 48 Banished but unbroken Sisters James Kelly charts the rise and fall of England’s exiled convents 50 Backing the habit: Life as a nun today Nichi Hodgson argues that nuns could help to bridge Britain’s welfare gap 52 The philosopher’s home from home Lesley Chamberlain visits Wittgenstein’s Norwegian refuge 54

Books Andrew Roberts on Castlereagh: From Enlightenment to Tyranny by John Bew; Tibor Fischer on Charles Dickens: A Life by Claire Tomalin; Patrick Bishop on All Hell Let Loose by Max Hastings; Paul Johnson on Dinner with Churchill by Cita Stelzer 63

Cosmos James Hannam thinks that Leonardo should have stuck to painting 68

Music Jessica Duchen loves a Hungarian maestro’s Cornish haven 70

Art Michael Prodger hails the successor to Lucian Freud 71

Film Peter Whittle time travels with Woody Allen 72 Television Nick Cohen is tired of current affairs producers telling us what to think 73

Theatre Anne McElvoy is pleased to see the Girls back on Top 74

Drawing Board Josef Herman 76 Overrated/Underrated Mahmoud Abbas/Stephen Harper by Melanie Phillips and Michael Coren 78

Chess Dominic Lawson laments the sad decline of a British pioneer 80 Wine Saintsbury drinks to a Gay time in paradise 81 Culture & Anarchy Simon Heffer believes Dirk Bogarde had real star quality 82

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