From Truow, an article on the fluctuating meaning of the term "Calvinistic" in the Netherlands. An article on Latvia as a model of economic malaise. A review of The Secret Life of France by Lucy Wadham. Alain de Botton on the pleasures of French Guiana (and more). Chile's vast and barren Atacama Desert was once plundered for its mineral riches; as Ivan Semeniuk discovers, today it's rich in a completely different kind of resource: telescopes. Letter from Singapore: Axel Gelfert reports from where the ivory tower meets the crystal palace. Japan's August election represented a political revolution, but how effective will the country's new government be? A current of anti-Chinese xenophobia has fueled the rise of an unlikely neo-Nazi movement: Why swastikas and racist dogma have taken hold in Mongolia. Fictional sovereignties: Today’s upsurge of micro-nationalism is not just a consequence of the revolt against empires — it is also a revolt against globalization. A review of Whatever Happened to Tanganyika?: The Place Names that History Left Behind by Harry Campbell. The Mzungu Thing: Many foreigners have a complicated relationship to Africa's woes — we want to help, but we also take pleasure in Africa as it is. An article on the growing specter of Africa without wildlife. Mount Bosavi, home to a host of newly discovered wildlife in Papua New Guinea, could hardly be more remote — so how did the scientists find their way there? An article on Tristan da Cunha, the world's loneliest island.
