Foreign Aid
End Syria’s War
‘Four years of Western inaction in Syria have contributed to the crisis in the Mediterranean. So has our ill-conceived intervention in Libya’
Habitual Hypocrisy
“I’ve said it before: where do the Israel-bashers stand on Syria? I’ll say it again because I hear a resounding silence.”
Women Come Last in Syrian Refugee Camps
‘The low status of women in Syria and other Arab nations — as well as the cultural relativism practised by the agencies mandated to protect them — has resulted in abuse and violence’
Dreams for their Children
The rise of Kenya’s middle class offers the country, and the whole continent, hope for the future
Helping Africa Break Free
Aid to Africa is the problem, not the solution, according to Dambisa Moyo, Zambian-born economist and author of Dead Aid. She discusses the issue with Richard Dowden, executive director of the Royal African Society, and Standpoint editor Daniel Johnson
Park City, Utah: Movie that Pulls Aside the Veil
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
Annie v. Elvis
When celebrities get involved in politics, they should look to Elvis rather than Annie Lennox
Blown Up in Bin Laden Country
Is Pakistani intelligence allowing the country’s tribal areas to become a Taliban stronghold? What can the West do about it?
Helping Orphans to Stay the Course
Cecily’s Fund provides funding and support for the schooling of Zambia’s AIDS orphans
Tolerating the intolerant
“For those who thought that a global pandemic would sound the death knell for identity politics, think again”
How to prevent the next pandemic
‘I have been reporting as a science journalist for years that the world is at increasing risk of pandemics like this; that this was predicted; that we know what we need to do to prepare and we simply haven’t done it; and that more and worse pandemics are coming so we need to do that, now’
D’où parles-tu? The post-truth world
Power, illusion and the open society: how postmodernism undermines our foundational concepts