Fifth Issue of Standpoint, the Social Affairs Unit's new cultural and political monthly - Out Now

25th September 2008 sees the publication of the fifth issue of Standpoint, the Social Affairs Unit's new British cultural and political monthly.

Society: In an article that challenges the very essence of contemporary educational orthodoxy, controversial thinker Charles Murray (The Bell Curve) attacks the government for its "romantic" delusions about the educability of British children and demolishes School Minister Andrew Adonis' claim that "there is no genetic or moral reason why the whole of society should not succeed to the degree that the children of the professional classes do today".

Politics: Douglas Murray flays David Cameron for empty posturing; Bruce Anderson and Robin Harris debate whether Cameron is the true heir to Margaret Thatcher, and Eurosceptic guru Rodney Leach suggests a way to quietly kill off the Lisbon treaty.

International: Edward Lucas, in a fierce debate with writer Mary Dejevsky, argues that we will have lost the new Cold War before we realize it's begun; William Hague and Emanuele Ottolenghi urge Europe to get tough with Iran and Syria; and Noel Malcolm explains why Russia is wrong to claim that South Ossetia is like Kosovo.

Culture: Ian Bostridge argues that classical music is much more subversive than rock n roll's commodified rebellion.

Faith: George Weigel on how Pope Benedict XVI confounded his critics; and Robert Wistrich on the strange new anti-Semitism of Venezuela's Hugo Chavez, Iran's Ahmadinejad and their supporters in the West.

Modern Life: Alain de Botton finds solace and beauty at Heathrow airport; Julie Burchill eviscerates Green Grandees; and Allison Pearson on her unequal education.

Science: Michael Hanlon says the fashionable doomsayers are wrong: regardless of climate change, plagues, even nuclear war, human civilization will survive.

Plus: Nick Cohen, Susannah Fiennes; Judith Herrin, David Ekserdjian, Harry Mount, and many more.