Why the Russian Revolution matters
A new film busts the myths surrounding 1917.
We need to rethink resilience
Once, it meant being strong and resourceful – not anymore.
Where did all the goodies and baddies go?
Hollywood’s post-9/11 films have ditched old-style patriotic chest-beating in favour of moral self-flagellation.
An indictment of the
anti-war movement
Demands for the prosecution of Tony Blair only legitimise the use of international courts against weak states.
Darfur: every celeb’s favourite African war
A new book reveals how celebrities’ and human rights activists’ simple-minded moral posturing on Darfur made the conflict even worse.
Must-reads from the past week
Why Darfur is everyone’s favourite African war
Rob Crilly’s new book is a fine work of reportage, challenging the myths and misunderstandings that surround Darfur and exposing how celebrity campaigners intensified the conflict.
The search for green meaning
For our confused and cut-off leaders, Copenhagen offered a chance to magic up some historic momentum.
Demystifying the ‘global ideology’
David Chandler’s new book Hollow Hegemony draws on the work of Marx and Engels to explain how the political class’s embrace of ethics and ‘global politics’ springs from their political weakness and isolation.
Al-Qaeda: it’s not big and it’s not clever
What do suicide bombers and environmentalists have in common? Faisal Devji explains in his daring new book on contemporary terrorism.
Al-Qaeda: what’s the big idea?
Faisal Devji’s new book draws some daring parallels between the outlook of militant suicide bombers and that of Western humanitarians – but it ultimately projects the author’s own search for political meaning on to the al-Qaeda network.
