Writing Worth Reading
Writing Worth Reading
Before we talk about your five books, I am interested in definitions of East and West. What do you regard as the old fashioned perception of East and West?
The essence of the old fashioned perception is this. The West is seen as the home of modernity, of the values of the Enlightenment, of democracy and of market economics. The East is seen as backward, and lacking in the values of the Enlightenment which it never experienced. In the eyes of many people in the West, it follows that the West is both more advanced than the East and morally superior to it. This is a gross over-simplification of course, but that is the old perception.
And how do you see that as changing?
Well, I think the old perception has never been true – or not, at least, for hundreds and hundreds of years. The Muslim civilisation that stretched from Spain to the Himalayas in what we call the Middle Ages was one of the most astonishingly creative civilisations in the history of the world. India and China were civilised long before Europe, and were technologically and economically ahead of Europe until (in the case of China) the end of the 18th century, or in the case of India a little bit earlier. It has never really been true.
So we in the West believe the myths we spun about ourselves?
Yes, and it was always a myth. But now I think it has become not just a myth but a very dangerous myth, because it lingers on. For example, Niall Ferguson has recently done a television series about civilisation where he is virtually equating it with the West – which is very dangerous because it is so out of kilter with what is happening in the real world. It is blinding us to the realities that we need to come to terms with.
Let’s look at your selection of reading, which explores these ideas. Your first book is Tony Judt’s Postwar: A History of Europe since 1945.
This book is all about the way that Europe has managed – not always totally successfully, but managed nevertheless – to come to terms with its bloody and horrible past. Europe was one of the most war-torn parts of the earth for a very long time and yet it has managed to construct a community which, though not perfect, has laid the demons of European history to rest. It is a mixed picture, as real world pictures usually are. But I think Judt’s book is an absolutely superb portrayal of that process.
The European project has been incredibly successful in lots and lots of ways. But now I think it has rather sadly run into the sands. Because of that, it is finding it extremely difficult to adjust to the changes that are taking place in the wider world, of which the end of the West is a central part.
It needs to find ways of moving forward, rather than relying on what it has done in the past?
Yes, it does. The idea of Europe coming to terms with the end of the West has a particular sub-theme, in that Europe always thought of itself as the West from the time of the ancient Greeks. Europe used to be the epitome of the West, but World War II knocked Europe off its perch. It used to be the heartland of the West but then, when it needed America’s help to win World War II, America took over.
There has been this rather dangerous assumption for the past 50 years, in the back of the minds of Europeans, that because we are the West and America is the West, we can always rely on America to save us from difficulties. And one of the things that is happening in the world now, which is very graphically illustrated by the present situation in Libya, is that the Americans aren’t able to do that any more. Although France and Britain have seen this need for Europe to get its own act together, the rest of Europe hasn’t. The Germans in particular have been dragging their feet hugely, saying it’s the Americans’ job to save the chance of democracy in Libya, not ours. Libya is, of course, on our doorstep and much further away from America.
David Marquand has been a member of the British Parliament, an official of the European Commission, and principal of Mansfield College, Oxford. He is a fellow of the British Academy and the author of many books. His most recent is The End of the West: The Once and Future Europe
Substantial tour d'horizon characteristically critical of US double-standards, poor intentions. From the Arab uprisings to climate change deniers, via Goldman Sachs and anti-immigration politics
Fascinating interview with former British diplomat Carne Ross. On the nature and practice of diplomacy today, how secretive governments are failing to learn the lessons of Wikileaks, and why more leaks are inevitable
The 2003 invasion of Iraq set in motion the eventual end of Western military intervention. Yes, NATO is aiding the fight in Libya, but there is little the outside world is willing to do in tougher cases like China or Syria
"Historic text that has the potential to do much good." Well-crafted, fairly optimistic assessment of President Obama's recent speech addressing uprisings in the Arab World and the Israeli-Palestinian relationship
On two decades of America at war. "The passionate zeal of the liberal interventionists and neoconservatives satisfies an emotional hunger that has been a part of our political system since the emotion-laden days of the Cold War"
