One Soldier’s War in Chechnya by Arkady Babchenko
Michael Binyon reviews an horrific memoir from the Chechen wars
Politics & Conflict
Ring master
High flying, visual acrobatics, visceral shocks – Russia’s greatest director used the tricks of the circus to captivate the crowds. Owen Hatherley takes a seat in Eisenstein’s big top
Mahmoud’s Gaff
An exclusive look at the blog of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, President of Iran, translated by Peyvand Khorsandi
Global warning
With cartoon controversies reverberating across the world Tzvetan Todorov, one of the world’s foremost philosophers, considers the after-effects of the Danish images
Allah’s ambassadors
Edna Fernandes gains unique access to the ultra-orthodox Deoband madrassa in rural India
Making Islam Democratic: Social Movements and the Post-Islamic Turn by Asef Bayat
Sami Zubaida questions Islamic democracy
Diary of a Bad Year by JM Coetzee
Stan Cohen reviews JM Coetzee's latest
Forced labour
200 years since it was abolished, slavery is not only still happening, reports Rahila Gupta, it’s actually increasing all over the world
Finger on the trigger
If Pakistan falls, Jihadis will have the bomb. Maruf Khwaja warns of his country’s deepening crisis
Editorial
Those calling for partition in Iraq should remember the consequences of another attempt to carve up a diverse society along religious lines