[.ca] Eqbal Ahmad: Confronting Empire (ISBN 0896086151)

A good man, a good book:
Confronting Empire is a well-done piece of work. I see a great amount of sympathy on Eqbal's part, and his ideas are life affirming. He discusses Pakistani and Indian poetry as well as geopolitics, and focuses on many areas where conflict is prevalent. Ahmad is asked how he would define his politics. "Socialist and democratic. Those have been my two lasting commitments. By democratic, I mean genuine commitment to equality, freedom of association, critical thought, and the accountability of rulers to citizens. By socialism, I mean control of the wealth by people rather than by the state or by corporations." He holds Edward Said and Antonio Gramsci in high esteem. One of many good things about Ahmad, he is always hopeful.

The world according to Ahmad:
It is hard not to like Ahmad as you read these interviews. First, he is a thoughtful critic of international politics and economic systems. He is as tough on the Soviet left as he is on the capitalist right. And in the process he is engaged by such thinkers as Edward Said, Albert Camus and Antonia Gramsci. Like many leftists, however, Ahmad offers more criticism than solutions. He is not as rabidly anti-American as Chomsky, but he does embrace some of the third-world cliches about the West and the US that grow tiresome after a while. I, for one, am not convinced that the rest of the world is trapped in an American economic construct from which there is no possibility of liberation or advancement. The tough work of building a civil society, of opening the doors of debate and freedom, of embracing a reasonable economic policy that allows for some human ingenuity, none of this is prevented by a US power structure. On the contrary, the US generally has only blocked -- on a few occasions -- forays into Stalinist systems hostile to both local and international interests. On the other hand, some of his observations are keen -- his conclusion, for example, that non-violent resistance can only be effective against oppression that is morally founded, such as British colonialism (bringing enlightenment to the rest of the world). It would not work against Stalin or Hitler (or Saddam). He is also a valuable guide through some of the India/Pakistan issues that are confusing to many of us. Like William Appleman Williams, another US critic, Ahmad has some interesting things to say, but they must be weighed against the total evidence of history.

Simple yet hard-hitting. A must read:
I read this book in 3 hours on a long haul flight and then talked my neighbouring passenger into following suit. It's that good. A stirring page turner with simple unawashed straight-talk about politics, religion, world order, even the vagaries of corporatization. Really, I hesitate to make this into a long intellectual review but you will find themes ranging from the opportunism of Gandhi, to the seeds of discord that US itself sowed in the middle east and south east asia (and what the future holds), to the after-effects of blatant commercialization on our social lives, to.... Wait, what am I doing. There is no way you will regret the 11 dollars that go into this incredibly eye-opening insight, so stop wasting your time reading these reviews and just buy it! Quite simply as close to an intelligent thriller as a work of non-fiction can come. Required reading.

Excellent, clear-eyed reasoning, and very humane.:
This book was written by a man whose greatest committment appears to be NOT to a political party, his own self-interest, or some other more or less selfish and narrow agenda, but rather to seeing clearly, reasoning fairly, and calling a spade a spade. If you want to get the point of view of someone who is as non-brainwashed as possible, look no further. This man, at least, is sane. It is interesting to note that he is also off the radar screens of the right-wing gang-bangers. Otherwise they would be here saying nothing and pulling the rating down.

A must read:
Eqbal Ahmad is a rare example of a man who struggled to live by his principles and has shown others the way by the sheer humanity and clarity of his thought. He was a true and worthy inheritor of the sufi tradition.