World-renowned scholar Amin Maalouf uses his own intellectual and political autobiography to trace how civilisations have drifted apart throughout the twentieth century.

The United States is losing its moral credibility. The European Union is breaking apart. Africa, the Arab world, and the Mediterranean are becoming battlefields for various regional and global powers. Extreme forms of nationalism are on the rise. Thus divided, humanity is unable to address global threats to the environment and our health. How did we get here and what is yet to come?

Maalouf seeks to raise awareness and pursue a new human solidarity, mixing personal narrative and historical analysis to provide a warning signal for the future.

Amin Maalouf’s Adrift: How Our World Lost Its Way is published by World Editions. Buy a copy from Waterstones, our bookselling partners.

Please note: this event will now start at 18:30 instead of 18:00.

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Festival of Ideas: Amin Maalouf, How Has the World Lost Its Way?