The West

Barack Obama has the mood, the momentum and the money in his favour – but John McCain’s character and record could yet swing November’s presidential election for the Republicans

Northern Europeans are tying themselves in knots about patriotism and identity politics

‘A nuclear Iran is not just Israel’s problem. Stopping its programme is a paramount Western interest’

Wolf Totem is a disconcerting mixture of nationalism, lupine metaphors and nostalgia for the age of nomads. But what does the novel’s runaway success tell us of the aspirations of the new China?

‘America is a looking glass in which humanity sees itself reflected and, all too often, distorted by fear, envy and resentment’

Drinking champagne at the Wallace Collection does not constitute the whole of that Western civilisation which Standpoint exists to celebrate and defend, but it feels like a good start

Worlds at War: The 2,500-Year Struggle between East and West by Anthony Pagden

Jung Chang and her husband Jon Halliday are leading authorities on Mao, while Simon Sebag Montefiore has published two major works on Stalin. With Standpoint editor Daniel Johnson, they discuss the two communist dictators who were responsible for up to 100 million deaths

‘Some artists have finally had the courage to admit that they are scared. But we need them to do better than that. We need people with a voice to show that they aren’t scared’

‘To defend and celebrate Western civilisation is not merely desirable; it is imperative’