The latest issue of the Spectator is out. Here, for the benefit of CoffeeHousers, is
a selection of five pieces from it.
1) How did David Cameron mutate into a hawk? The last few weeks have been like a political version of a Manimal* transformation sequence. Daniel McCarthy, editor of The American Conservative, looks at this in the current edition of the magazine – he’s sceptical about the operation underway (as were most CoffeeHousers when I last blogged on it) and argues that “Cameron’s interventionism would substitute the discredited example for a hopeful one”.
2) Blair always viewed foreign affairs as a welcome relief from the home front. Might Cameron’s passion be inspired by the sense of “controlled panic” in Whitehall? James Forsyth lists what’s going wrong, and why, in the cover story – I touched on this earlier on. It’s a great insight into the hopes and insecurities of the government, and helps make sense of a lot of things going on right now.
3) And how do we explain the hawkishness of Sarkozy? Janine di Giovanni sends a report from Paris that has some clues.
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