20 March 2006

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

Iraq: the reckoning

The US and Iraqi governments insist that this isn't a civil war. If they are right, then how do you describe so much fear, destruction and death?

By John Simpson

Features

"You won't be going to Jericho"

By Rachel Aspden

Rachel Aspden was one of the Britons rapidly evacuated from Jerusalem following the Israeli army's prison raid

They ask, we ask: was it worse under Saddam?

By Zaki Chehab

Kidnappings, power cuts, sectarian hatred, medical shortages, petrol queues, intimidation of women and a mass exodus of talent: all part of life in the new Iraq

Iraq by numbers

By Katherine Haywood

Invasion was the courageous thing to do

By John Lloyd

Mistakes have been made in Iraq and opponents of the war may revel in them, but nothing can alter the rightness of overthrowing a dangerous tyrant. By John Lloyd

He's got a plan: cut and run

By Andrew Stephen

Even Rumsfeld, cocooned inside Bush's bunker, can see it's over

Not redundant after all

By Richard Brooks

Politics in the new South Africa galvanises liberal writers just as much as it did under apartheid, as the award-winning playwright Athol Fugard tells Richard Brooks

Vive la Terreur de la justice!

By David Lawday

Thirteen people jailed for child abuse were cleared by a French court in 2004. Now, a parliamentary probe into the case is reviving fears about the fairness of France's legal system, reports David Lawday

Essay

NS Essay - 'Thatcherism's triumph was double-edged. Union militancy pushed large sections of the middle class to the right. Now unions threaten no one and the main threat to middle-class interests comes from the rich'

By Nick Cohen

The divide is deepening in Britain between those who are told they are affluent and those who really are. Nick Cohen points to a society in which, thanks to this government, only the super-rich feel truly at ease

Interview

NS Interview - Ed Balls

By Martin Bright

Gordon Brown's most trusted aide and adviser is more than happy to call himself a socialist. By Martin Bright, New Statesman political editor

Regulars

New Statesman Leader

Oh, what a foolish war

Saddam may be on trial, but there is now, thanks to Blair and Bush, no better time to be a dictator and abuser of human rights

The Politics Column

The politics column - Martin Bright

By Martin Bright

The rhetoric of reform has made legislation appear necessary when most of what is contained in this bill could be done without passing new laws

Ziauddin Sardar listens to the young

By Ziauddin Sardar

Islam has played an important role in shaping Britain since the 12th century

Competition

Win vouchers to spend at any Tesco store

Culture

Play it again Sam

By Anthony Minghella

Samuel Beckett's bleak, absurd and mischievous vision revolutionised theatre, inspiring countless other artists. Anthony Minghella recalls filming one of his plays while leading figures pay tribute

Nature's cure

By Richard Cork

Art - Richard Cork marvels at Jacob van Ruisdael's open-eyed grasp of the world

Great Books from the Wrong Point of View No.2

By Robert Winder

Oliver Twist In Dickens's novel, Oliver is lucky to escape the clutches of Fagin and his gang. Told from another point of view, however, the story might seem rather different. Fagin, we would see, is doing very nicely in London - until Oliver Twist turns up and ruins everything

Film