Michael Ignatieff

Dec 5 at 7pm at the Kreisky Forum, with the historian Oliver Rathkolb I’ll be debating whether human rights has reached end times or whether it can still have a rebirth.

de - Bruno Kreisky Forum für internationalen Dialog Das Bruno Kreisky Forum für internationalen Dialog wurde im Jahr 1991, ein Jahr nach Kreiskys Tod gegründet, um jene Anliegen weiterzuführen, die ihm Zeit seines politischen Lebens besonders am Herzen gelegen waren.

Ian Davey, who got me into politics and served as my chief of staff, died just before Canada Day. Zsuzsanna and I mourn his passing. This is a picture of dinner, back in 2008, with Ian and his wife, Jill Fairbrother, and Dan Brock at our apartment in Toronto. Ian was a north star to me: he loved the country, and he loved politics. I'll miss him. Wonderful man.

Ill be taking part in a debate and discussion about contemporary anti-semitism in Europe. It will be at WU in Vienna tomorrow night. Here are the details:

Antisemitism in the workplace An issue in Austria and elsewhere?

I did a podcast last night with some very interesting guys who I think were in New York. They got me talking about consolation versus comfort, stoicism and what a good death might mean.
I do hope you enjoy it

Michael Ignatieff - On Consolation: Navigating Dark Times | STM Podcast #174 On episode 174, we welcome Michael Ignatieff to discuss the consolation of philosophy, the difference between comfort and consolation, distinguishing between...

This week, Pushkin Press is bringing out a new, revised edition of my biography of Isaiah Berlin. As I said then, and still believe,
"In a dark century, he showed what a life of the mind should be: sceptical, ironical, dispassionate and free."

I was asked by the Globe and Mail to talk about how to end the war. Here is what I said:

“How to end the war” is more than the wrong question. Right now, it’s a malign diversion. Instead of sticking with the Ukrainians, instead of asking them what they need, we’re asking them what they’ll settle for.
When Western leaders, especially [French President Emmanuel] Macron, ask the question – how to end the war – they are really saying that they want the war to end before Ukraine wins. Because if Ukraine wins, Russia loses, and if Russia loses, or fears it’s about to, Mr. Putin may use his nuclear weapons. If he does, we are in an even darker world than the one we live in now. We don’t want to go there, so we want Ukraine to survive but not to prevail. No wonder the Ukrainians don’t want to listen. The battlefield will decide if they have to.

I teach in the history department at Central European University in Vienna. Great programs. Great colleagues. There's still time to apply for admission to our Masters' and Phd programs for next September. Here's how:

How to Apply | Department of History To choose from the programs offered by the History Department, please read the descriptions of the 1-Year MA Program and the 2-Year MA Program, or our 2-year Erasmus Mundus programs History in the Public Sphere and MATILDA European Master in Women’s and Gender History. Based on your previous train...

Andrew died last night, after a long battle with heart disease. My kid brother.

Strong piece by an old friend, Gareth Evans, on a strategy to revitalize international human rights.
Well done, Gareth!

Revitalizing the Struggle for Human Rights | by Gareth Evans - Project Syndicate Gareth Evans offers eight principles to guide advocates as they try to put progress back on track.

CEU History Department in Vienna is looking for great students for next year's class. Admissions are open now. Join us next year!

Call for Applications | Department of History The CEU History Department is pleased to announce its call for applications for graduate programs in History starting in Vienna in the Fall of 2023. We offer one- and two-year MA programs as well as a doctoral program, supported by financial aid: https://history.ceu.edu/content/programs.

Persuasion, a great online community for debate and argument has just published a piece of mine about
Consolation, taken from my new book. Do enjoy and Happy Thanksgiving.

The Art of Consolation How to find solace in dark times.

A podcast about democracy, politics and polarization. Opponents in politics
are adversaries, not enemies, and democracy dies when it becomes a war
between enemies.

Michael Ignatieff Warns Against the Politics of Enemies - Democracy Paradox Michael Ignatieff joins the podcast to warn us about the dangers from the politics of enemies. Based on his Journal of Democracy article.

My latest--and I dare say my best--book is out in paperback this week. On Consolation: Finding Solace in Dark Times.
Here's the introduction. Hope you enjoy it

After Paradise - Michael Ignatieff This book is a collection of portraits, arranged in historical order, each devoted to a single person in extremity who used the traditions they inherited to seek consolation. As we shall see, they did not always succeed, but we can learn from their struggles and find hope in their examples. What do....

In Praise of a Life Cut Short: Trevor Harrison in Memoriam

In Praise of a Life Cut Short - Michael Ignatieff Trevor Harrison was emblematic of [that] youthful optimism. In 2006, just out of Queen’s University, he showed up in my office on Parliament Hill.