Maalouf is well aware of the bleakness of his analyses, but sees no way to put on a more rosy lens. But the accumulation of jeremiads reveling in nostalgia in the second half was too much for me. I found the first half of this book quite interesting and fascinating, when Malouf's focus mainly was on the Arab world. And so Maalouf goes on and on, at a furious speed downhill, also looking in fear at the cataclysms that await us. This was accompanied by a rise of identitarian movements that set people against each other and denounced any sense of community. It got really bad from 1979 onwards, when conservatives all over the world came to power, with Thatcher in England, Reagan in the US and Khomeini in Iran as epigones. The Palestinians are also getting hit hard their opportunism dragged Lebanon into conflict with Israel, turning coexistence into a bloody civil war. He places a fundamental responsibility on Egyptian President Nasser and his xenophobic Arab nationalism, which ended ingloriously with the defeat against Israel in 1967, thus giving room for reactionary Islamism to take over the voice of the oppressed and frustrated. Maalouf is not sparing in pointing out scapegoats. That model has been shattered since the 1970s and since then things have only gone downhill for the Arab world and the world in general. He remembers with nostalgia the laboriously negotiated social-political pact that allowed people with different convictions and backgrounds to live together there, with respect and recognition for the difference. His focus initially rests on the Arab world, and first and foremost on his beloved homeland of Lebanon. From the beginning of this book, he makes no secret of the fact that this is going to be a long lamentation, a description of everything that has gone wrong and continues to go wrong. 1949) looks back on the world of the past 70 years, which he more or less consciously experienced, among other things as a journalist. In the autumn of his life, the celebrated French-Lebanese writer Amin Maalouf (b.
From the beginning of this book, he makes no secret of the fact that this is going to be a long lamentation, a description of everything that has gone wron “My sorrows all tell the same story, that of a great hope that ended up being disappointed, betrayed, distorted or annihilated.” “My sorrows all tell the same story, that of a great hope that ended up being disappointed, betrayed, distorted or annihilated.” In the autumn of his life, the celebrated French-Lebanese writer Amin Maalouf (b. In Adrift, Maalouf traces how civilizations have drifted apart throughout the 20th century, mixing personal narrative and historical analysis to provide a warning signal for the future.more How did we get here and what is yet to come? World-renowned scholar and bestselling author Amin Maalouf seeks to raise awareness and pursue a new human solidarity. Thus divided, humanity is unable to address global threats to the environment and our health. Extreme forms of nationalism are on the rise. Africa, the Arab world, and the Mediterranean are becoming battlefields for various regional and global powers. The United States is losing its moral credibility. Thus divided, humanity is Breathtaking analysis of the current global crisis from one of the Arab world’s most respected writers Breathtaking analysis of the current global crisis from one of the Arab world’s most respected writers The United States is losing its moral credibility.