From Time, an article on the death of French culture: The land of Proust, Monet, Piaf and Truffaut has lost its status as a cultural superpower — can it regain its glory? From TLS, a review of books on Nicolas Sarkozy. Passion for justice: An interview with human-rights academic Caroline Fournet, who grew up in a French town haunted by wartime horrors. When Paris suburbs burn: An interview with sociologist Laurent Mucchielli. End of the secret garden: The French used to see a person's private life as sacred, but now Anglo-Saxon "transparency" is taking over. Anthemic themes: If we're no longer urging God to save the Queen, what should be the message of a new national anthem? A review of Scotland the Autobiography: 2,000 Years of Scottish History by Those Who Saw it Happen (and more). A review of Blair Unbound by Anthony Seldon. Where are the anti-fascists? A look at the danger of Germany's strange silence on Ahmadinejad. In Italy since September 11, the dangers of radical Islam were addressed soley by right-wing rabble-rousers — finally Reset magazine has kicked off a proper debate. From The Observer, in an orgy of savage violence Radovan Karadzic's forces slaughtered tens of thousands of Muslims in the Bosnian war. Ed Vulliamy returned to Bosnia to discover why the West has failed so abjectly to bring him to justice (and part 2 and part 3 and part 4). An essay on Edward Said and Kosovo. From Eurozine, normality as materiality: It was eastern Europeans' resourcefulness during times of scarcity that prepared them for the change and ensured the continuity of experience. Looking back now on the "Velvet Revolution" of 1989, things have since gone wrong.
