About a year ago, I read an interesting article by Prof Niall Ferguson, drawing parallels between the period leading to the First World War and the current global scenario. More recently, I read his book The Pity of War, which analyses factors contributing to the First World War, including some reasons which have not been discussed much but which are very convincing. He makes a very persuasive argument that the First World War was a major error of the modern era. More significantly, it was an error that could have been avoided.

Prof Niall Ferguson’s Colossus is very strong in intellectual vigour. It is rather weak in its moral persuasion.

Eliot Weinberger’s book 9/12: New York After is a series of essays, which he refers to as ‘snapshots’, of his personal impression; and the political reactions and consequences he expected in the days after 9/11. 

When I boarded the Qatar Airways flight on my return from Doha to Mumbai, I remembered a story. The ancient manuscripts of Greek, Indian and Arabic wisdom were on the verge of disappearance. One day, about a thousand years ago, King Al-Mamun, the son of Harun Al Rashid, decided to invest in translating and preserving the ancient wisdom. It did not matter how much it would cost. The royal court gathered all the intellectuals it could and commissioned them to bring best of the knowledge from far away and develop it....

The conference centre at Sharm el Sheikh almost compares to the one in Davos. It is impossible to believe that it was built in less than eight months. The main plenary hall easily accommodates about 1500 participants. There are a good number of smaller meeting rooms, high quality acoustics, open meeting spaces and all that a modern convention centre can boast. However, the speed with which it was conceived and constructed is impossible to believe.

This happened at the beginning of a new century. The Western leaders came together to launch an attack on a strategically located nation in the East. As compared to the nations further to the East that sought to establish a global regime based on Islamic tenets, this nation was culturally closer to the West. But the Western leaders were not happy that the ruler of this nation had usurped power. They wanted to restore power to the legitimate leaders of the nation, living in asylum in the West, who promised them long term economic and security partnership.

Both books – Globalised Islam: the Search for a New Ummah by Oliver Roy and The War for Muslim Minds: Islam and the West by Gilles Kepel tackle the issue of Islam in all its forms’ that is militant or political; stating that Muslim neo-fundamentalism is a modern phenomenon. 

Prof. Margaret MacMillan’s Paris 1919 is not a book – it’s a movie. Her description of all major and minor characters, their egos, their desperation, their tactics, their mistresses make the book a moving experience. Her eye for detail is amazing. Her description of the ladies of the story from a socialite who plotted to marry General MacArthur to the charming Queen of Romania is amusing.