08 November 2004

From the Editor…

Welcome to the New Statesman website. Whether you are a new reader or an existing one - online or via the magazine - I hope you'll enjoy the great writing, fresh ideas and provocative debate that make the New Statesman Britain's award-winning current affairs weekly

Jason Cowley, Editor, New Statesman

Cover story

Bleak morning in America

Bush's handlers are likely to move him further to the right. Do not expect compromise or magnanimity from the White House. Andrew Stephen reports from Washington

By Andrew Stephen

Features

The fewer the better

By David Nicholson-Lord

We dare not discuss population growth lest we be called racist. Yet wouldn't lower numbers give us a gentler, less materialistic Britain?

The rules of successful rebellion

By Kevin Toolis

By historical standards, the Palestinians have waged an ineffective terrorist campaign. But the costs to Israel are still too high

1 comment

Arafat long ago lost his allure among his people

By Graham Usher

Eh? What? Please speak up

By Michael Simmons

Michael Simmons laments the plight of those who suffer from an unglamorous and neglected condition

Get people back to power

By Helena Kennedy

A new commission will find ways of getting Britons to re-engage with politics

Essay

NS essay - The honours system, far from being abolished, should be hugely expanded

By Richard Reeves

In our society, high status depends too much on money. We need more diverse ways of sharing out esteem, so that all can have prizes, argues Richard Reeves

Interview

NS interview - Geoff Hoon

By John Kampfner

The Defence Secretary denies concern about Iraq is growing in Labour ranks and hints that we should expect more wars. Geoff Hoon interviewed

Regulars

New Statesman Leader

A failure of American liberalism

New Statesman Leader

Ms Odone and the NS

By Peter Wilby

The Politics Column

Politics - Blairites celebrate to soon

By John Kampfner

For a brief spell, those at No 10 could allow themselves to let down their guard and show what they really thought of Bush. Blair, it seemed, was off the hook. Then came the reality

Mark Thomas finds that Voltaire has been rewritten

By Mark Thomas

Although the nearest we get to oppression of comedians is to remove Jim Davidson's driving licence biannually, Britain is still an illiberal nation when it comes to free speech

Darcus Howe meets Big "lazy, thick nigger" Ron

By Darcus Howe

I meet Big Ron Atkinson, who once referred to a footballer as a "lazy, thick nigger"

Amanda Platell notes Piers Morgan's two left feet

By Amanda Platell

Piers Morgan's two left feet, and why I'll never agree to a make-over by Trinny and Susannah

Mark Kermode - Baby, come back

By Mark Kermode

An eerie drama of life beyond death is marred by its storyline. By Mark Kermode Birth (15)

Competition

Win vouchers to spend at any Tesco store

Culture

Faust and furious

By Rachel Halliburton

An updated production of Faustus equates Marlowe's anti-hero with the controversial Chapman brothers. The link is fitting: British contemporary theatre and art are both committed to challenging the status quo, argues Rachel Halliburton

Lonely man

By Richard Cork

Visual Art - Two Manet masterpieces go head to head in London. Richard Cork is transfixed

Ragbag of randomness

By Michael Coveney

Performance Art - Twenty years of theatrical deconstruction leave Michael Coveney in two minds about the stunts of Forced Entertainment

Theatre

Michael Portillo - Pass the sick bag

By Michael Portillo

Theatre - Winsome parody of a hugely dislikeable man on the make. By Michael Portillo How to Lose Friends and Alienate People Arts Theatre, London WC2

Television

Andrew Billen - Iraq as thriller

By Andrew Billen

Television - A six-part series offers a surprising allegory of the war. By Andrew Billen Murder Prevention (Five)

The Fan

The fan - Hunter Davies fears television killed the real live footie star

By Hunter Davies

With all the football on TV, some fans won't bother to go out for live games

Books

Written out of history. Many of civilisation's crowning glories originated in the east. Yet you'd be unlikely to learn this from reading western historians. Ziauddin Sardar on the books we ignore

By Ziauddin Sardar

Great Ideas series Various authors Penguin, £3.99 each Human Accomplishment: the pursuit of excellence in the arts and sciences (800BC-1950) Charles Murray HarperCollins US, 688pp, £17.99 The Eastern Origins of Western Civilisation John M Hobson Cambridge University Press, 376pp, £17.99 (paperback)