From Dylan to democracy, from Bobby Kennedy to Putin's Russia - this wide-ranging conversation with Michael Ignatieff riffs off “The Adults in the Room,” his latest essay for Liberties Quarterly. A liberal intellectual and politician who grew up enchanted by the Sixties counterculture, Ignatieff is deeply concerned by the American lurch into MAGAism. That said, however, the Canadian still seems (half) in love with the United States and hasn’t totally given up on what he calls liberalism's “incorrigible vitality”.
Here are the 5 KEEN ON takeaways from our conversation with Ignatieff:
Ignatieff sees the current global situation as potentially the biggest change since 1945, marked by a fundamental shift in America's approach to international relations under Trump - from viewing allies as sources of power to treating them as potential adversaries to be exploited.
He describes a profound crisis in the international rules-based order, with institutions like the UN Security Council deadlocked, Geneva Conventions being ignored in current conflicts, and increasing reckless behavior by powers like Russia that threatens international stability and safety.
Drawing from his experience as both a liberal intellectual and politician, Ignatieff traces the decline of the liberal coalition in America to growing class divides between credentialed elites and working people, as well as racial backlash to civil rights progress - while still defending liberalism's achievements in expanding inclusion and rights.
Despite current challenges, Ignatieff maintains a deep faith in what he calls liberalism's "incorrigible vitality," seeing it not just as a political program but as a way of life based on civility, listening, and finding ways for people to live together despite differences.
Ignatieff argues that middle powers like Canada, Denmark and others have a crucial role to play in helping to establish "deconfliction" protocols between major powers and rebuilding a minimal rules-based order to prevent catastrophic conflicts - not out of virtue but out of legitimate fear of what could happen without such guardrails.
Writer, historian, professor and politician, Michael Ignatieff was born in Canada, educated at the University of Toronto and Harvard and now lives and works in Vienna, Austria where he is a professor of history at Central European University. He is married to Zsuzsanna Zsohar and has two children. He has written biography, reportage, history, philosophy and his books have been published in many languages. His recurrent themes are the fate of human rights and liberal values in a time of convulsive change. His novel--Scar Tissue-- was nominated for the Booker Prize and his defense of academic freedom and liberal principles earned him the Dan David Prize in 2019.
Named as one of the "100 most connected men" by GQ magazine, Andrew Keen is amongst the world's best known broadcasters and commentators. In addition to presenting KEEN ON, he is the host of the long-running How To Fix Democracy show. He is also the author of four prescient books about digital technology: CULT OF THE AMATEUR, DIGITAL VERTIGO, THE INTERNET IS NOT THE ANSWER and HOW TO FIX THE FUTURE. Andrew lives in San Francisco, is married to Cassandra Knight, Google's VP of Litigation & Discovery, and has two grown children.
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