Issue: July/August 2020
Return of the dragon
China’s Covid belligerence will only isolate it further
The balance of power
Economics will be key in the looming new Cold War between the US and China
Days in the life of the Fab Four
Joseph Connolly reviews One Two Three Four: The Beatles in Time, by Craig Brown
Losing without a fight
No one will say the truth to the one side that is waging the culture war. The only dog in this battle will win it
Online banking’s ‘great service’
Dealing with your bank online makes the Labyrinth seem like a Roman Road
Sing it again, Frank
Michael Henderson listens once more to the Great American Songbook, most enriching of entertainments
Myths of the Prophet Max
Daniel Johnson on the life and work of Max Weber, whose controversial views on democracy still resonate today
Warming is not the only threat
Our response to Covid-19 has shown us that national security depends on more than tanks, planes and climate preparedness
The dignity of domestic labour
Louise Perry says there is nothing demeaning about work traditionally done by women
A moral case for Universal Basic Income
A neoliberal argument for UBI based on individual freedom and property rights
Most Read
American strategy in Iran is wiser than it seems
President Trump’s intervention will leave the world safer than it was
Saint Nicola
Nicola Sturgeon wants sympathy for her husband’s crimes—but after years spent avoiding awkward questions, her latest reinvention may be the hardest sell yet.
The lonely death of Henry Nowak
We must draw lessons from a horrendous and disgraceful case
Rewatching the English
English identity has become too surreal and discomfiting to define
A failed war on fags
The black market has taken over the tobacco trade Down Under
Light my fire
A perfect spy requires a spark for his cigarette
It’s not a level pitch
Where did it all go wrong for Crystal Palace?
Classic is back
Why contemporary art may be losing ground
Don’t expand the Equality Act
Labour should not expand the Equality Act — it will hit the poor hardest
The chairwoman of the board
A story driven at a whip-crack pace, pulsing with manic energy and nail-biting
International Women’s Day is useless for women
IWD has become a celebration of evasion and irrationality
The Third China Shock?
We are unprepared for the possibility of a future Chinese hegemon
Bonfire of the fallacies
Two opposing ideas about hard power and foreign policy — legalism and nihilism — are being exposed by the Trump
administration
Trump will not discredit Europe’s populist right
European populism is a lot deeper than mere Trumpism
Red tape and black markets
Prohibition is a criminal’s best friend
In defence of the Freedom of Information Act
We should not let our access to information held by public authorities be diminished