1958: The War of the Intellectuals

NY Times - Much has been made of 1968 — the student uprisings in Paris, the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy, the full flowering of youth culture. But what of its more unassuming antecedent, 1958? Fifty years ago, Eisenhower was in the White House, the country was in [...]

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The sanctity of evil

Times, by John Habgood - Personal evil is essentially about wilfulness rather than reason, nor can it be subsumed within our rational understanding. Evil in this sense, as part of our humanity, is not a fashionable concept, but we have good reasons to recognize it, not least in ourselves.

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The Coming Revolution in Africa

Wilson Quarterly, by G. Pascal Zachary - A rising generation of small farmers promises not only to put food on the African table but to fundamentally change the continent’s economic and political life.

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Churchill and His Myths

NY Review of Book, by Geoffrey Wheatcroft - Apart from the famous words “I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat” (deftly filched from Garibaldi in 1849: “Non offro nè paga, nè quartiere, nè provvigioni. Offro fame, sete, marce forzate, battaglie e morte”), that speech proposed Churchill’s [...]

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Thinking About November

NY Times, by Paul Krugman - The fight for the Democratic nomination seems to be winding down. It’s not completely over, but the odds now overwhelmingly favor Barack Obama.

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The River of Death

Independent - For the people living alongside the Payapon river – a branch of the mighty Irrawaddy – the slow-moving waters have always been a sustainer of life. The river has provided irrigation for their crops, as well as clean, sweet water for washing and bathing, and the fish from which so many [...]

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Russia Displays its Military Pomp on Red Square

Spiegel - For the first time since the end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union, Moscow has put on an arms parade to celebrate the defeat of Nazi Germany. Russians are impressed with the military show of strength, but in Eastern Europe the parade has reawakened old fears.

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