CONTRIBUTORS TO THIS ISSUE

RODRIC BRAITHWAITE was British ambassador to Russia (1988-92)

ARCHIE BROWN is professor of politics at Oxford University

MADELEINE BUNTING is religious affairs editor at the Guardian and a catholic

IAN BURUMA is the author of The Missionary and theLibertine (Faber)

JOHN CARR is a management consultant

JEREMY CLARKE is a freelance writer

ROY DENMAN was EU ambassador to the US

PETER FRANK is professor of government at Essex University

MAUREEN FREELY is author of the forthcoming The Other Rebecca (Bloomsbury)

BRIAN GLANVILLE is a sports journalist

RICHARD GOTT is former literary editor of the Guardian

ANTHONY GOTTLIEB works for The Economist

AC GRAYLING is a lecturer at Birkbeck College

DAVID HANNAY is former British ambassador to the UN

ROBERT HAZELL is director of The Constitution Unit (0171 209 1162)

GEOFFREY HOSKING is director of the School of Slavonic and East European Studies

WILL HUTTON is editor of the Observer

IRINA ISAKOVA is a research associate at the International Institute for Strategic Studies

JOHN LLOYD is associate editor of the New Statesman

JOHN MADDOX is the former editor of Nature

THERESA MAY is a mature student

PAM MEADOWS heads the Policy Studies Institute. Her article appears in Public Expenditure (IPPR, 0171 470 6100)

KENNETH MINOGUE is professor emeritus of political science at the LSE

EDWARD PEARCE is a writer and broadcaster

RACHEL POLONSKY teaches at Emmanuel College, Cambridge

FREDERIC RAPHAEL is a novelist

MATT RIDLEY is a writer. This piece is taken from The Origins of Virtue (Viking)

ALAN RYAN is master of New College, Oxford

NICOLE SMITH is assistant director of The Constitution Unit

CHRISTOPHER TOOKEY is Daily Mail film critic

PETER WAYNE is serving 13 years for robbery at Lindholme prison, Yorkshire

ALISON WOLF is professor of education at the University of London

JAMES WOOD is a senior editor at the New Republic

DIETER ZIMMER is a journalist on Die Zeit

2 PROSPECT December 1996

Prospect Issue fourteen December1996

Filibustered. Page ,

O P IN IO N S

8 MOHAMMAD GOES TO BRIGHTON IAN BURUMA on the Referendum party’s equal opportunity programme. 10 CONSTITUTIONAL PARADOX ROBERT HAZELL AND NICOLE SMITH Labour must centralise first to devolve later. 12 EDUCATING BORIS RACHEL POLONSKY on why the children of the Russian elite get custard andcross-country runs. 14 I SPEND, THEREFORE I AM PAM MEADOWS on how the public sector continues to operate in its own interest. 16 DEBATE: THE DUSTBIN OF HISTORY? RICHARD GOTT AND DAVID HANNAY Do we still need the UN? Is it a useless talking shop or the only means to prevent war?

Wasting money. Page 14

ESSAYS 20 ROUNDTABLE ON RUSSIA: Should we worry about events in Russia? Is the country sliding into anarchy? Six specialists look back on the Yeltsin years and assess the prospects for democracy.

Understand, Boris? Page 12

26 DE TE FABULANARRATUR ALAN RYAN Is what Americans are getting from Bill Clinton what Britons can expect from Tony Blair? Yes, but minus the religious fervour.

Eagle landing. Page 26

30 VIRTUE ISAGRACE MATT RIDLEY Selflessness mayjust be another form of selfishness. Is there such a thing as pure altruism or only enlightened self-interest? 34 EUROPE IN 2004 ROY DENMAN It’s only eight years from now but Europe will look very different, especially from Britain.