Tariq Ali Quotes
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Power can shape 'truth,' but not forever.
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In January 1961, the United States severed diplomatic relations in response to Cuban nationalisation of U.S.-owned sugar plantations, banks and businesses.
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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 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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In my eyes, a patriot is little more than an international blackleg.
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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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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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As a political current, Maoism was always weak in Britain, confined largely to students from Asia, Africa and Latin America.
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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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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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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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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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Revolutionaries are not infallible.
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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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Even if you reject everything, it is always better to know what it is you are rejecting.