Tariq Ali Quotes
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The genealogy of fictional characters can become an obsession, like train-spotting, and should be firmly resisted.
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The Pakistan Cricket Board is a long-standing joke, its chairmen replaced with every change of government.
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The Enlightenment attacked religion - Christianity, mainly - for two reasons: that it was a set of ideological delusions, and that it was a system of institutional oppression, with immense powers of persecution and intolerance.
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I was never totally what we would now call 'politically correct,' even in my most militant phase. I always liked good food, good wines. I suppose it was because I had total confidence in myself.
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In my eyes, a patriot is little more than an international blackleg.
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As a political current, Maoism was always weak in Britain, confined largely to students from Asia, Africa and Latin America.
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The Lumiere brothers first exhibited moving pictures in Paris in 1896. A year later, there was a private showing at the Yildiz palace in Istanbul.
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Poland, after the First World War, was beset by chaos, disorder, and a foolish incursion by the Red Army, which helped to produce the ultra-nationalist military dictatorship of General Pilsudski.
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For all their incoherence and senseless rage, their message is attractive to those layers of the population who yearn for some order in their lives. If the fanatics promise to feed them and educate their children they are prepared to forgo the delights of CNN and BBC World.
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An independent Scotland could be far more internationalist and would benefit a great deal from links to both Scandinavia and states in other continents.
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The only continent where social movements have led to political parties that have pushed through serious social and political reforms is in South America.
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As a candidate, Obama projected himself as a new Reagan, above narrow party politics. He wanted to please all but has ended up annoying many.
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Socially, the Cuban revolution created an education system and health service that remain the envy of much of the neo-liberal world.
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Tragedies are always discussed as if they took place in a void, but actually each tragedy is conditioned by its setting, local and global. The events of 11 September 2001 are not exception.
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Political pundits in Delhi and Islamabad have berated the West for its relativism and double-standards. After all why should Britain have a nuclear arsenal but not India? It is a reasonable question.
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Revolutionaries are not infallible.
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Even if you reject everything, it is always better to know what it is you are rejecting.