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In the magazine this month

January 2009

Germany's fawning attitude towards Putin stems from a belief that Russia is the nearest thing it has to a colony
Germany's relationship with Vladimir Putin's Russia is the most puzzling and troubling feature of modern European politics. Not only is Germany Russia's biggest trading partner, it is also her biggest ally. It is Germany that has derailed Nato expansion. Germany reversed the EU's initially tough line on Russia after the invasion of Georgia. Germany prevents the Council of Europe scrutinising Russia's flawed elections. Germany forces the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development to channel money to companies run by Kremlin cronies. Germany keeps Europe's energy market rigged in favour of Russian gas imports.
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Four Days of Terror in Mumbai
JONATHAN FOREMAN

A city in the grip of rumour and recrimination—an eye-witness account of the jihadi attacks and their aftermath

Saving Gemma from Her Carers
ALASDAIR PALMER
If ‘localism’ is to succeed, more power should be given to the people, not local government
A Novel Way to Treat a Writer
SUSAN HILL
I have been inundated with emails from GCSE and A-level students who want me to spoonfeed answers on their set texts
 
China's Rural Nightmare
JONATHAN MIRSKY

As the global economic crisis hits home, Beijing faces what the country's rulers have always feared - a peasants' revolt

Honourable Conspirators
NIGEL JONES
The officers who tried to kill Hitler were spurred on by a deep sense of shame and guilt
Don't Worry, Be Happy
FRANCESCA SEGAL
You want it, you deserve it! That's the misleading message of a thousand self-help guides to instant bliss
IAN BOSTRIDGE AND TIM BLANNING
The tenor Ian Bostridge and the historian Tim Blanning discuss popular and classical music with Standpoint editor Daniel Johnson