Michael Ignatieff Libri

Liberties Journal of Culture and Politics is devoted to educating the general public about the history, current trends, and possibilities of culture and politics.

Paperback. Signed by Hugh Brody on title page. Covers and inside covers are lightly marked. Leading corners, edges and spine are worn. Light scores on covers and half title page. Pages are clean and contents are clear throughout. Binding is sound. HJW

From renowned intellectual and historian Michael Ignatieff comes a moving portrait of artists, writers, politicians, emperors, and poets overcoming tragedy and crisis an ancient tradition of consolation which will resonate with readers in our turbulent times.

Exploring a crisis in political imagination, the book delves into the essential human need for belonging and community. Michael Ignatieff vividly examines the lives and ideas of influential thinkers, from Augustine to Simone Weil, highlighting how their philosophies relate to contemporary struggles. The narrative is both incisive and moving, positioning philosophy as a crucial guide for understanding humanity and addressing fundamental questions about our existence and connections with others.

Focusing on themes of war and guilt, this critically acclaimed work delves into one man's quest for justice amidst the complexities of conflict. The author offers a profound meditation that examines the emotional and moral struggles faced by individuals impacted by war, providing a deep exploration of the human condition.

Winner of the Royal Society of Literature Award In The Russian Album, Michael Ignatieff chronicles five generations of his Russian family, beginning in 1815. Drawing on family diaries, on the contemplation of intriguing photographs in an old family album, and on stories passed down from father to son, he comes to terms with the meaning of his family's memories and histories. Focusing on his grandparents, Count Paul Ignatieff and Princess Natasha Mestchersky, he recreates their lives before, during, and after the Russian Revolution.

Finalist for the 2004 Lionel Gelber Award In the age of terrorism, the temptations of ruthlessness can be overwhelming. But there is also the anxiety that a violent response to violence makes us morally indistinguishable from our enemies. There is perhaps no greater political challenge today than trying to win the war against terrorism without losing our democratic souls. Michael Ignatieff confronts this challenge head-on with a combination of pragmatic idealism, historical sensitivity, and astute political judgment. Ignatieff traces the modern history of terrorism and counter-terrorism from the nihilists of Czarist Russia and the militias of Weimar Germany to the IRA and Al Qaeda. He shows how the most potent response to terror has been force, decisive and direct, but—just as important—restrained. Restraint also gives democracy its strongest weapon: the moral power to endure when the furies of vengeance and hatred are spent. "An impeccably argued case for how to balance security and liberty in the face of the new kind of threat posed by today's terrorists…" —Publishers Weekly

Winner of the Zócalo Book Prize A New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice "Combines powerful moral arguments with superb storytelling." --New Statesman What moral values do we hold in common? As globalization draws us together economically, are the things we value converging or diverging? These twin questions led Michael Ignatieff to embark on a three-year, eight-nation journey in search of an answer. What we share, he found, are what he calls "ordinary virtues": tolerance, forgiveness, trust, and resilience. When conflicts break out, these virtues are easily exploited by the politics of fear and exclusion, reserved for one's own group but denied to others. Yet these ordinary virtues are the key to healing and reconciliation on both a local and global scale. "Makes for illuminating reading." --Simon Winchester, New York Review of Books "Engaging, articulate and richly descriptive... Ignatieff's deft histories, vivid sketches and fascinating interviews are the soul of this important book." --Times Literary Supplement "Deserves praise for wrestling with the devolution of our moral worlds over recent decades." --Los Angeles Review of Books

The 2003 invasion and occupation of Iraq raised a critical question in global politics: does the United States operate within the framework of international law? This work examines America's adherence to human rights standards compared to other Western nations. Featuring essays from eleven prominent experts in international relations and law, it highlights the distinctiveness of the U.S. approach to human rights. Michael Ignatieff's introduction outlines three forms of exceptionalism: exemptionalism (supporting treaties while seeking exemptions for Americans), double standards (criticizing others for ignoring international human rights findings while overlooking similar issues in the U.S.), and legal isolationism (American judges often disregarding foreign legal precedents). Contributors build on Ignatieff's insights to analyze specific aspects of exceptionalism, such as capital punishment and free speech, and investigate its social, cultural, and institutional foundations. Most essays are published here for the first time and have been revised from a year-long lecture series at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government. Notable contributors include Stanley Hoffmann, Paul Kahn, Harold Koh, and Cass Sunstein.

An impassioned defense of open society, academic and media freedom, and human rights. George Soros -- universally known for his philanthropy, progressive politics, and investment success--has been under sustained attack from the far right, nationalists, and anti-Semites in the United States and around the world because of his commitment to open society and liberal democracy. In this brilliant and spirited book, Soros brings together a vital collection of his writings, some never previously published. They deal with a wide range of important and timely topics: the dangers that the instruments of control produced by artificial intelligence and machine learning pose to open societies; what Soros calls his "political philanthropy"; his founding of the Central European University, one of the world's foremost defender of academic freedom; his philosophy; his boom/bust theory of financial markets and its policy implications; and what he calls the tragedy of the European Union. Soros's forceful affirmation of freedom, democracy, the rule of law, human rights, social justice, and social responsibility as a universal idea is a clarion call-to-arms for the ideals of open society.