Section: New Statesman (The United Kingdom)
There’s more than Britain’s EU membership at stake tomorrow
A Brexit vote could have dire consequences for world order, warns David Clark. While it was inevitable that the EU referendum debate would become dominated by the flagship issues of immigration and the economy, it is perhaps surprising that so little attention has been given the impact of tomorrow’s decision on our foreign policy. Surveys...
Blood on the streets: the charge of the hooligans at Euro 2016
Young, fit, muscular men with masks, gumshields and telescopic truncheons, the Russian “elite ultras” attacked not just with drunken gusto but with well-honed, premeditated viciousness. The violence that has broken out in isolated flare-ups at this year’s Uefa European Championship in France began in an almost homely way. What is it about...
The Jewish lawyers who reinvented justice
Two new books explore the trials of Nazis – and asks how they changed our conception of justice. In August 1942, Hans Frank, Hitler’s lawyer and governor general of occupied Poland, arrived in Lvov. “We knew that his visit did not bode well,” a Jewish resident later recalled. That month, writes Philippe Sands, Frank gave a lecture in a...
Is Facebook’s newsfeed really biased against conservatives – and, if not, should it be?
There is no such thing as objective journalism, and in the case of Facebook, no requirement to be objective. It was a hectic spring morning at the height of the Ukraine crisis. On the radio, newscasters were calmly reporting on the body count, the possible involvement of other world powers, the possibility of nuclear weapons being used. And then,...
The jolly refugee: how Teffi captivated the world
Memories: From Moscow to the Black Sea reveals the eye for truth and optimistic spirit of an extroadinary Russian celebrity. This remarkable memoir of a journey from Moscow to Ukraine to the Black Sea and beyond – undertaken in 1918 and 1919, not long after the overthrow of the last tsar – begins with a plain-spoken admonition. There are no...
We must remain in the EU – for Eastern Europe’s sake
Europe’s leaders must ensure that the mistake of abandoning Eastern Europe, which led to catastrophe in the 1930s, is not repeated. The World Wars, historian Paul W. Schroeder argues, were both “about a similar two-sided German problem”. In the West, Germany’s rise threatened “the Atlantic world”. It was,...
The spirit of Ukraine’s Euromaidan Revolution has been betrayed
Instead of able, technocratic leaders with strong ties to the West, we see a less reformist, less competent cabinet. After more than two months of political horse trading, the Ukrainian parliament managed to elect a new prime minister: Volodomyr Groysman, 38 years old, former mayor of Vinnytsia and chairman of Ukrainian parliament. Groysman is a...
How valid is the claim that the EU has delivered peace in Europe?
For many arguing that the UK should remain in the EU, the first and foremost claim is that it is a force for peace. A few years ago, the EU was awarded the 2012 Nobel Peace Prize. The Scottish Herald described the award as ‘crass’, one which would inflame ‘tensions when many of the EU’s 500 million citizens have been thrown into...
What has the EU ever done for us? Peace
The EU has delivered peace in Europe: for many arguing that the UK should remain in the EU, this is the first and foremost claim. But is it valid? A few years ago, the EU was awarded the 2012 Nobel Peace Prize. The Scottish Herald described the award as ‘crass’, one which would inflame ‘tensions when many of the EU’s 500 million...
Michael Gove gambles as he rejects single market membership
The Leave campaign’s move offers its opponents new economic ammunition. For months, EU supporters have been demanding clarity from the Leave campaign on what post-Brexit model it would seek. Would it seek to remain in the single market (like Norway) and risk the loss of sovereignty? (Existing members are required to accept the free movement...
