Dispatches
Colombia: A Nation Reborn
The beating heart of Colombia's historic struggle can be seen from the air. As you come in to land at Bogotá's El Dorado airport, you see perfectly parcelled suburban developments encircled by muscular mountains. Colombia amplifies the typical Latin American struggle of order versus chaos and concrete versus bush to epic proportions. Flying the flag for order and civilisation is two-term conservative President Alvaro Uribe, who will hold a referendum in November to change the constitution to allow what Colombians are referring to as his "re-reelection". He is widely expected to win both the referendum and a third, or even fourth, term.
Intellectual Life Under Obama
There isn't much more to California than palm trees and sun — or so it seems to a European. Sure, the state is the most populous in the US and is known for the diversity of its population. But you don't find much proof of a rich cultural history that has grown over centuries. Some see this as the state's peculiar appeal — you have the freedom to be whoever you want at any given moment. Others view this as potential peril — people seem to live removed from traditional values. In California, it seems, opinions are formed as a result of "anything goes".
How does a state like this react to a bit of controversy? Condoleezza Rice's return to Stanford University, where she last served as Provost (1993-2000), is a case in point.
Previous columns
Mayhem in the Marais
NIDRA POLLER FROM PARISMay 2009
A new outburst of anti-Semitism in Paris has brought violence out from the banlieues into the heart of Paris
Screwed - Left, Right and Centre
TIBOR FISCHERMay 2009
‘Unfortunately, most Hungarians expect their politicians to be on the take and that's because many of them are. I'd love to name names, but I'm not in the mood for litigation’
Blood on the Streets
JONATHAN FOREMAN FROM BEIRUTApril 2009
‘Then the beating began. One of the new arrivals punched Christopher hard in the face. Two others grabbed his arm and started dragging him across the street. For the first time the Hitch looked scared’
(Photo: Asgeir Ueland)
Tariq Ali's Plan for Pakistan
DENIS MACSHANE FROM INDIAApril 2009
Although previously banned, Tariq Ali's books can now be read anywhere in Pakistan. In the aftermath of the jihadist attacks in Mumbai and on the Sri Lankan cricket team, will the Brit-Pak's fluent words offer any solutions to the problems there?
A Tale of Two German Cities
MARA DELIUS FROM BERLIN AND COLOGNEApril 2009
‘Now that Berlin is officially one of the coolest places in Europe, many have developed a peculiar sense of being German - a form of confidence, or nonchalance at least, about their nationality’
Movie that Pulls Aside the Veil
JAMES SHINN FROM PARK CITY, UTAHMarch 2009
A new documentary made in Afghanistan has won two awards at the the Sundance Film Festival. Afghan Star could help the cause of feminism there and encourage a desperately-needed sense of national community
On the 'Slumdog' Trail
JONATHAN FOREMAN FROM MUMBAIMarch 2009
Standpoint's Writer-At-Large visits the slums of Mumbai to assess the Oscar-winning film
Prague Diary
LESLEY CHAMBERLAINFebruary 2009
‘The post-1989 temptation in Prague has been two-fold. The first has been to legislate the totalitarian past out of existence, the second has been to copy the liberal West blindly at a lag of 20 years’
Chávez's Secret Fan Club
VANESSA NEUMANN FROM CARACASJanuary 2009
‘In his decade as president, Chávez has parlayed socioeconomic resentment into near-invincibility. But Venezuela's decay, and the chinks in his armour, are there for all to see’
GETTY IMAGES
A Cousin in the White House
LOUIS AMIS FROM NEW YORKDecember 2008
US Election Week diary: New Yorkers and their attitudes towards the new president
Never Say Never Again
JUSTIN MAROZZI FROM YPRESDecember 2008
The Armistice commemorations in Ypres: Remembrance cannot cure us of the instinct for war, but it can help to restrain us
New York Diary
JONATHAN FOREMANNovember 2008
‘New York feels much calmer than London about the financial crisis. It's not clear if this attitude is a product of resignation or sheer denial, schadenfreude against wealthy financiers, or perhaps a kind of emotional hardiness born of the 9/11 attacks.’
Caucasus Diary: August-September, 2008
BEN JUDAHOctober 2008
‘It was days after the ceasefire had been signed and the facts on the ground went square against what President Nicolas Sarkozy of France had intended’
Panic at the Palace
JUSTIN MAROZZI FROM DARFURSeptember 2008
Rarely have expectations and realistic possibilities been so ill-matched as in Sudan
Arrivederci Roma
TOPAZ AMOORE FROM ROMESeptember 2008
The public and government mood towards immigrants, whether legal or illegal, is increasingly ugly
Recycling the French Model
WILLIAM TUCKER FROM LA HAGUEAugust 2008
France's slogan “We may not have any oil, but we have ideas" has proved to be the winning hand when compared with Britain
No Via Media for Anglicans
TRAVIS KAVULLA FROM JERUSALEMAugust 2008
Gafcon's message: that churches must return to the plain meaning of scripture, even at the risk of institutions
Courage and Cowardice in Scandinavia
BRUCE BAWER FROM OSLOJuly 2008
The cartoon controversy has cowed all the Nordic countries except Denmark
How Kosovo Created its Own Liberal Islam
MICHAEL J. TOTTEN FROM PRISTINAJuly 2008
Claims that Kosovo is a nest of radical Islam are baseless
A ‘Post-racial’ American vs an Old Coot
JAY NORDLINGER FROM NEW YORKJune 2008
‘The Obama campaign will be touted as “historic,” and how do you run against history?’
Hariri: An Assassination Too Far
MICHAEL YOUNG FROM BEIRUTJune 2008
‘Few opinion-shapers in the West feel outraged enough to condemn it, let alone grasp what is at stake in the Hariri tribunal’
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