Global Thought
Making It New
The common concerns of two 1855 works, Whitman’s “Leaves of Grass” and Shidyaq’s “Leg Over Leg” — in particular, language, equality, freedom, paradox and multiplicity — illustrate the international nature of how the 19th century wrestled with modernity.
Syria's Road Not Taken
In 2001, Syria missed an opportunity for reform. A pivotal lecture from that summer by the late Riad al-Turk, jointly published here with Al-Jumhuriya, shows what could have been — and how the Syrian civil war might have been avoided.
Juergen Habermas Contradicts His Own Ideas When It Comes to Gaza
"It is admirable that you and your country’s political-intellectual class are adamant about sustaining the memory of that historic horror so that similar horrors will not befall the Jews. But your formulation of, and fixation on, German exceptionalism leaves practically no room for conversation about Israel’s policies and Palestinian rights."
A Talk With the Dean of Arab Liberalism
If Saghieh is branded today by fans and detractors alike as the dean, or grand old man, of Arab liberalism, he certainly did not begin his intellectual journey in that vein. It was only after 30 years of espousing every stripe of radicalism that he met with an insurmountable crisis of faith and “recovered,” as he puts it half-jokingly, from the “fever” of political extremism that would otherwise have killed him.
Russian Intellectuals in Exile
The current wave of emigration presents an agonizing catch-22: The political thinkers and artists best equipped to analyze, criticize and hold up a mirror to the dictatorship can now see their country only from the outside and don’t know when, or if, they will be able to return.
How Liberal Historians Imagined a Different Path for the Balkans
A group of dissident historians once offered a remedy to the nationalist populism resurgent today: a pluralism that respects the legitimacy of multiple political currents and the rights of minorities at home, and the sovereignty and territorial integrity of neighboring states abroad.
Reading James Joyce in Kuwait — with Mai Al-Nakib
Award-winning novelist Mai Al-Nakib joins New Lines magazine’s Lydia Wilson to talk about how James Joyce’s vision of early 20th-century Ireland resonated during her youth in Kuwait.