In the New Statesman this week, Alec MacGillis examines Barack Obama’s record and why he has delivered so little of the change he promised. Mehdi Hasan discusses the real obstacle to peace in the Middle East. Agnès Poirier explains what the Strauss-Kahn trial means for the French. And Alan Taylor considers the rise of Alex Salmond from playground politician to First Minister of Scotland.
Elsewhere in the magazine, the Liberal Democrat insider and New Statesman columnist Olly Grender argues that the Lib Dems are not in crisis. In a guest commentary, Stephen Abell, director of the Press Complaints Commission, argues that self-regulation is the best way of policing the press. And in The Critics this week, Caryl Phillips writes about the new cricket documentary Fire in Babylon, while the former foreign secretary Douglas Hurd reviews Henry Kissinger’s new book, On China.
Plus all the usual New Statesman regulars, including David Blanchflower on George Osborne’s economic policy, Alice Miles on the perils of health and safety, and Peter Wilby on the cheek of Hugh Grant.
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Peter Tatchell One year in jail, Bradley Manning is a hero
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