19 May 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
Features
Burma's tragedy exposes the world's lack of a disaster strategy
Forced intervention would be folly, but there are better weapons in the west’s arsenal than military planes
Burma praying in the rain
Millions are destitute, the death toll has already reached six figures. The inexcusable incompetence of the vicious regime is partly to blame. But so are the politics of aid
Israel's secret fears
The nation that sees itself as the most misunderstood in the world celebrates its 60th birthday with deep apprehension about the future. Haim Baram finds anger and defensiveness among its politicians A deeply hidden diplomatic relationship between Israel and Jordan underpins the history of the search for peace in the Middle East
Talking to the enemy
A deeply hidden diplomatic relationship between Israel and Jordan underpins the history of the search for peace in the Middle East
The power network
Publicly, Israel will not do business with those who do not recognise it. But behind the scenes is a complex web of international contacts
The great betrayal
The issue of Israel has become a terrible fault line on the British left but liberal opinion may soon be forced to change
Essay
Labour must find its faith
One of the most damaging illusions of the "Third Way" has been that you can devise policies which disadvantage no one, argues the Labour ex-deputy leader
Regulars
The Politics Column
The climb back of his life
Gordon Brown is still in deep trouble, and dreams of recovery. Will he weather the storm? There are historical precedents that may comfort him
Religion must not block progress
The Commons has usually debated and voted sensibly over on issues such as embryology. Will members - particularly those who are Catholic - do the right thing?
Invading your own privacy
Even the cheap allure of voyeurism has its limit, and I think we might have reached it
Just get a grip No 4027
Philip Larkin’s poem “Aubade” prompted Kingsley Amis to speak out: “If you feel as bad as you say, then fucking get up, or if it’s too early or something then put on the light and read Dick Francis . . .” etc. We asked you for Amisian (or Grumpy Old Men) responses to “Intimations of Immortality”, “Ode on Melancholy”, “Dejection: an Ode”, “In Memoriam”, or other, similarly well-known dolorous poems
Culture
The way I see it
Murdoch is a member of the theatre company Cartoon de Salvo. Their new, improvised production “Hard-Hearted Hannah and Other Stories” is at the Lyric Hammersmith, London W6, until 7 June (http://www.lyric.co.uk).
The last modern architect
Richard Rogers's achievements as a maker of extraordinary buildings are in danger of being obscured by his status as a new Labour panjandrum
Better late than never
The art world has suddenly "discovered" Maria Lassnig at the venerable age of almost 90
Chasing the blues away
Paul Weller was horrified to learn that the young David Cameron was a fan of the Jam
Performance
Truly a middle-class act
An impressive debut, but the move to a larger stage amplifies its flaws
Film
Tales from the dark side
Two directors explore less savoury aspects of human morality Terror's Advocate (12A) dir: Barbet Schroeder Heartbeat Detector (12A) dir: Nicolas Klotz
Television
Fear and loathing in Jerusalem
Two documentaries explore the corrosive effects of conflict on Israeli society The Battle for Jerusalem/ My Israel BBC4
Radio
Stripping the Mona Lisa
Meet the Polish master pianist who doesn't want people to buy his records
Books
Nuts about grass
Many British Columbians are rather disappointed to learn that Quebec has overtaken their province as the number one producer and exporter of cannabis
Just give peace a chance?
The Second World War was wrong and avoidable, argues Nicholson Baker, and through the criminal belligerence of Winston Churchill and Franklin Roosevelt brought catastrophe and death to tens of millions
Man/book love
The Library at Night Alberto Manguel Yale University Press, 373pp, £18.99
How not to defeat Aids
The Wisdom of Whores: Bureaucrats, Brothels and the Business of Aids Elizabeth Pisani Granta Books, 288pp, £17.99
For art's sake
Hornsey 1968 Lisa Tickner Frances Lincoln, 208pp, £12.99
Revenge of the reader
An Arsonist’s Guide to Writers’ Homes in New England Brock Clarke William Heinemann, 320pp, £12.99
The outsider
Kieron Smith, Boy James Kelman Hamish Hamilton, 432pp, £18.99
Celebrity scandal
The Girl Who Was Going to Die Glyn Maxwell Jonathan Cape, 352pp, £12.99
Observations
Ethical arms trade?
Dick Olver and the BAE Board should ask themselves whether it is possible to be an ethical company and operate in the arms business, argues Andrew Feinstein
