07 January 2008
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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
Cover story
A revenger's tragedy
The intelligence services and religious extremists were behind the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, argues Ziauddin Sardar, and politicians have been too preoccupied with settling old scores to fight for real democracy
Features
Wanted: a new bedside manner
After years of the wrong reforms, the NHS needs democratising and popularising. The left must win this battleground in the struggle between society and the market
Turbulence ahead
The global credit crunch has hardly begun to bite: much worse is to come. Alex Brummer predicts that 2008 will present Labour with by far its sternest economic test
The one to watch in 2008
Malaria kills thousands each day, mainly in the world's poorest countries. At a research centre in Mozambique, the work of one man, Pedro Alonso, offers hope
Why life is good
A dangerous gap exists between our personal experience, which is mainly happy, and our view of a society in decline
How Kenya lost its way
For decades Kenya was the African success story, yet the election has exposed bitter divisions. Now the country is on the verge of meltdown
Regulars
New Statesman Leader
As long as Musharraf is in power, Pakistan will not be stable
The west has often regarded the civilian dimension of Pakistani politics as a hindrance to its security priorities
Books of the Year No 4008
You were asked for some incongruous combinations of book and author who’s been in the news recently Set by Leonora Casement
Culture
Interview: Ang Lee
Following his smash hit Brokeback Mountain, Ang Lee is back with a sexually explicit film set in wartime China.
Postcards from Spain
An exhibition inspired by Federico García Lorca's beloved country house sheds new light on the poet
Performance
Never mind the bum notes
Though it's easy to sneer at the Spice Girls, Jude Rogers found that their down-to-earth charm is still evident
Film
The last supper
This Romanian thriller may put you off your food, but it's a treat all the same 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (15) dir: Cristian Mungiu
Television
Time to be Frank
A reprise of this anarchic soap won't help Channel 4 beat the New Year blues Shameless Channel 4
Radio
A classical education
Here's to radio for musically curious folk that doesn't exclude newcomers BBC Radio 3 90-93FM
Books
A good feeling
Oil, gas, soya and socialism - Latin America has many reasons to be cheerful. And not all of them are to Washington's liking
A common language
Ad Infinitum: a Biography of Latin Nicholas Ostler HarperPress, 400pp, £25
The bigger, the better
One Economics, Many Recipes: Globalisation, Institutions and Economic Growth Dani Rodrik Princeton University Press, 278pp, £19.95
Heads and the state
The Politics of the Veil Joan Wallach Scott Princeton University Press, 208pp, £14.95
Observations
Caste-ridden Britain
Jastinder Khera on the challenges that exist because of the caste system in parts of the UK's Asian community
