Navid Kermani is one of the outstanding public intellectuals of his generation. Not one for drawing hard and fast conclusions, his style of thought is probing, observant, often straying from well-trodden paths and always peering beyond the present moment to trace connections and grasp the bigger picture.
Well known for his prize-winning novels and major works of non-fiction, Kermani has also gained widespread acclaim as a journalist, displaying a rare political sensitivity which manages to illuminate what politicians fail to see and to seek out solutions where all appears hopeless. This volume brings together his brilliantly perceptive writing from the last thirty years, on topics ranging from terror in the Middle East to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. As a record of Kermani’s uniquely compassionate curiosity, this absorbing book is a welcome antidote to the confusion and despair that stalks global politics today.
Table of Contents
Preface1. Islam versus Islam
The Judgement against the Egyptian Quran Scholar Nasr Hamid Abu Zayd
2. The Thousand Voices of Silence
The Situation of Artists and Intellectuals in Iran
3. Sympathy for the Satan
After the Attacks of 11 September
4. The Soft Words of Violence
After the Beginning of the War in Afghanistan
5. What Alternative?
Before the War in Iraq
6. Right Again, Sadly
The Attack on the Synagogue in Istanbul
7. Strategy of Escalation
On the Hostages in Beslan
8. Good Thing You’re Educating Me…
Confusion in the Integration Debate
9. Desperation and Enthusiasm
After the French Referendum on the European Constitution
10. Hate Pictures and Hysteria
The Dispute over the Muhammad Cartoons
11. Relying Only on Strength Makes Israel Weaker
On the War in Lebanon
12. We are Murat Kurnaz
Before Foreign Minister Steinmeier’s Testimony to the Bundestag Investigative Committee
13. The Message of Cologne
The Discussion on Building a Grand Mosque
14. Death on Wednesday?
The Trial of Ayatollah Boroujerdi in Tehran
15. Rejection of Europe
The Swiss Referendum on the Prohibition of Minarets
16. State Without a People
The Recent Mass Protests in Iran
17. Allianz Lecture on Europe
18. Triumph of Vulgar Rationalism
The Outcry over Martin Mosebach and the Ban on Circumcision
19. Too Late for Good Conscience
The Civil War in Syria
20. Farewell to the Middle East
The ‘Islamic State’s’ March on Baghdad
21. Stop the ‘Islamic State’!
The Threat of Genocide against Christians, Yazidis and other Ethnic Groups in Iraq
22. The European Ideal is Sinking
The Mediterranean Sea as a Mass Grave
23. At Our Children’s Cost
Europe after Brexit
24. What We Can Do in This Situation
After the Attacks in Ansbach, Würzburg and Munich
25. The Weight of Two Sacks
In Search of the Last Blind Spots of Progress in China
26. The Laughter of Nasrin Sotoudeh
Iran on International Human Rights Day
27. For Three Dollars a Day
After the West’s Withdrawal from Afghanistan
28. No Programme but Politics
The Chancellorship of Angela Merkel
29. Afghanistan? Already a Non-Issue
German Apathy Towards the World
30. The Price of Justice
The Disappearance of the Generic Masculine in German
31. War as a Means of Politics
After Vladimir Putin’s Announcement of a Russian Troop Deployment to Donbas
32. Through the Night
Ukraine at War
33. Woman Life Freedom
The Uprising in Iran, July - December 2022
