Shipwreck of civilizations

For more than half a century, Amin Maalouf has been travelling the world and keeping an eye on things. He grew up in the cosmopolitan and prosperous cities of Beirut and Cairo, and saw how they were increasingly gripped by religious radicalisation, nationalism and violence. He was in Saigon at the end of the Vietnam War, and in Tehran when the Islamic Republic was proclaimed. Today, he fears, we are on the threshold of a global shipwreck that will affect all areas of civilisation. America is losing all moral credibility. Europe is at risk of disintegrating. The Arab world is sinking into a deep crisis with disastrous consequences for its people and for the entire planet. Not to mention the serious threats to the climate, environment and health that the earth is facing, and which can only be addressed through global solidarity. And that is precisely what is lacking. It is high time, Maalouf believes, that humanity asks itself the right questions and tries to formulate an answer to them. In Shipwreck of Civilizations, Maalouf acts as a committed spectator and thinker, as someone who links his own personal experiences to reflections on an ever-changing world.