CONTRIBUTORS TO THIS ISSUE

ANTHONY BEVINS is political editor at the Express

IANBURUMA is a fellow of the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington DC SARAH CAUDWELL is the author of The Sibyl in Her Grave (Dell) JEREMY CLARKE is a freelance writer ROBERT COOPER is a diplomat EVANDAVIS is economics editor of Newsnight

DAVIDFLEMING is author of the forthcoming The Lean Economy

HANS-JOHANN GLOCK is reader in philosophy at the University of Reading and is currently fellow of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation JOHN GRAY is professor of European thought at the LSE and the author of False Dawn (Granta) AC GRAYLING is lecturer in philosophy at Birkbeck College and a fellow of St Anne’s College, Oxford MICHAEL IGNATIEFF is the author of Isaiah Berlin (Chatto & W ind us) PICO IYER is the author of Cuba and the Night

KENNETH T JACKSON is professor of history at Columbia University and the editor of The Encyclopedia of New York City (Yale University Press) MARY KALDOR is reader in contemporary European studies at the University of Sussex JOHN LLOYD is the author of Rebirth of a Nation: an Anatomy of Russia (Michael Joseph) MELANIE PHILLIPS is a columnist on the Sunday Times

TOM ROSENTHAL is chairman of the ICA and is writing a book on the relationship of opera libretti to their literary sources FREDERICK STUDEMANN SCHULENBURG is the Financial Times correspondent in Berlin STELLA TILLYARD is a biographer and historian BELLA THOMAS is a writer based in Brussels PETER WAYNE is near the end of his prison sentence at a location that must remain secret JACOB WEISBERG is a contributing writer for the New York Times Magazine and chief critic for Slate

TOM WILKIE is head of the biomedical ethics programme at the Wellcome T rust and former science editor of the Independent contents

Issueforty April 1999

OPINIONS 10 Less race, please MICHAEL IGNATIEFF Following the Stephen Lawrence case, we need liberal realism. 12 The next oil shock? DAVID FLEMING The world is set for a new oil price shock, as Opec makes a comeback. 14 A benign imperialism MARY KALDOR Nato at 50 should dedicate itself to enforcing international law.

ESSAY Hans-Johann Glock on western philosophy’s 100-year-old divide

DEBATE 16 Debate: Gay marriage EVAN DAVIS AND MELANIE PHILLIPS Should single sex marriages be allowed? Or would gay promiscuity undermine an already beleaguered institution?

The birth of analytic philosophy at the turn of the century led to a profound split within western philosophy. What is the state of the divide between the analytic and continental traditions? PAGE 26

PORTRAIT Stella Tillyard ploughs through Germaine Greer s collected works

ESSAYS 32 Bardolatrv AC GRAYLING It is worth reminding ourselves wherein lies Shakespeare’s genius. But Harold Bloom's hyperbole is a distraction. 36 The meaning of Bill JACOB WEISBERG Clinton will always be remembered as the priapic president. But he should also be credited with reforming government for the post-cold war era.

Greer has remained surprisingly consistent since The female eunuch. But she is still unable to resolve the tension between her anti-capitalist radicalism and her self-promotion. PAGE 46

In the chair.

2 PROSPEC T April 1999