Contents

54 Obama’s Iranian charm offensive America starts again in Tehran. christopher de bellaigue 58 Britain’s got talons Why pick on celebrities? maggie gee

science & technology 62 Kourou, do we have a problem? Diary of a rocket launch. stephen eales 63 Re-weaving the web Beware plans to prevent us accessing

opinions 20 Food porkies Don’t blame factory farming for

swine flu. vivienne parry 21 Do the math How numerate are today’s big

decision makers? mark hannam 22 Boris becalmed The mayor’s first year. ed howker 25 Easy does it In praise of quantitative easing.

the internet. damian tambini 64 Current affairs Next up: viral batteries. edie lushcolumnIStS 10 Political notes Labour’s failed elite. richard reeves 17 The life & opinions of Julian Gough The perfect diet for obese Americans. 18 Sporting life Newcastle’s spirit. david goldblatt 29 Washington watch Cheney won’t shut up. renegade 30 Brussels diary The Czech problem. manneken pis 31 Crisis watch Who walks the plank? jonathan ford 66 Lab report Dark matter matters. philip ball 68 Letter from Dublin Ireland’s funk. mary fitzgerald 69 Matters of taste Maltese haute cuisine. alex renton 87 Confessions I’m a trainspotter. nicholas royle 88 The prisoner My friend David. car hills 96 Dear Wilhemina An MP’s wife on the expenses row.cover story34 Are children getting dumber? Exam standards may have fallen. But does it matter? donald hirschchina now 24 Spare me the lecture Honouring Tiananmen doesn’t mean atoning for it. diane wei liang 45 The ghosts of Tiananmen Was the protest in vain? ian buruma 48 China’s final frontier My 3,000-mile trip round Tibet and Xinjiang. parag khanna

george magnus 26 The sword arm of Europe Peacekeeping begins at home.

anatol lieven 28 A real British museum We need a tribute to our cultural

heritage. kenneth bakerfeatures 42 Sarko the sex dwarf The short answer to President Sarkozy’s appeal. lucy wadham

arts & books 71 The global war for souls Religion is back. eric kaufmann 72 The death of do-nothing celebrity Reality television is witnessing a

flight towards authority. sam leith 74 Private view How real are photos? ben lewis 76 One nation under tarmac The hidden history of roads. ian irvine 77 Performance notes Winterreise wonders. martin kettle 78 Dorset’s answer to Patti Smith PJ Harvey is still defining the role of

the female rock star. alice o’keeffe 80 Smallscreen Vile bodies. peter bazalgette 81 Robot visions Can a machine have a soul?

nicholas humphrey 82 The way we were Extracts from Isaiah Berlin’s letters. 83 Widescreen The real meaning of Star Trek. mark cousins

FICTION 84 Mme Zitta Mendès, a last image A new story by alaa al aswany

regulars 6 Letters 8 Prospect recommends 12 Diary 93 Enigmas & puzzles 94 The generalist 95 The Prospect list

A full list of contributors is on p93

next issue published 25th june

june 2009 · prospect · 5Pakistan’s Fox News james crabtree The new generation of American novelists kamran nazeer Is the EU unravelling? charles grant