Contents Issue 291 October 2020

Up front 1 Editorial 7 Contributors 8 Letters plus ’ cartoon strip

Opinions 10 The human toll of “the science” 11 A transwoman speaks up for free speech 12 Orwell: political flake; towering moralist

AT LAW 13 We need more Lord Binghams

VIEW FROM BEIRUT 14 A blast reveals rot in Lebanon

SPEED DATA 15 Climate under lockdown

THE WORLD’S TOP 50 THINKERS: RESULTS 16 The winner, the top 10—and who we missed

THE DUEL 18 Are tax rises inescapable?

Cover story

20 Hungary’s slide Viktor Orbán is extinguishing freedom, one liberty at a time

26 The great anticipator George Soros tells Prospect he is more worried about the threats facing Europe than those to the US

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28 US 2020: How bad could it get? American’s creaking democracy is up against a president who will never admit he has lost

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33 How the west lost A stunning victory in the Cold War was squandered by an arrogant breed of liberals. Their world is fast unravelling

Essays

38 Sit quietly, pay attention—and thrive Is is time for schools to embrace a strict new ethos of discipline?

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PROSPECT PORTRAIT Boris’s brick wall The obdurate David Frost is negotiating Brexit. What motivates him?

48 Flag, faith and fear for the planet How the far right has adopted the climate change cause

52 The cultural persecution China is using technology to destroy the Uighur way of life

PROSPECT

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