Book Talk | The West: The History of an Idea
During and after the Cold War, the term “The West” was used as a term to describe a set of countries, political systems, ideas and values that were assumed to be fixed, permanent and even in a sense eternal. Today, an increasing number of commentators are proclaiming that “the West is dead”. It is therefore a good time to write a candid biography of its life. Georgios Varouxakis has done this in his highly-praised and award-winning new book, The West: The History of an Idea.
Varouxakis traces the birth of “The West” as an idea not to classical antiquity or medieval Christendom but to the mid-19th century. He describes the remarkable permutations that it has experienced since, as a term of identity and propaganda in both international and domestic politics. The cast of countries assumed to be members of “The West” has changed repeatedly over time. So too have the countries seen as the West’s opponents or defining “Others”. Today, the question remains open as to whether the West is dying or multiplying into different Wests, and if so whether the West of the Cold War would even recognize its offspring.
Anatol Lieven, director of the Eurasia Program and the Andrew Bacevich chair in American Diplomatic History at the Quincy Institute, will speak with the author. The conversation will take place on Monday, February 23rd from 12:00 – 1:00 PM Eastern Time.
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Panelists
Georgios Varouxakis
Georgios Varouxakis is a professor of history at Queen Mary University of London where he is Co-Director of the Centre for the Study of the History of Political Thought. He grew up and went to school in Crete and studied History and Archaeology at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens and has a PhD in History from UCL. He joined Queen Mary in 2006. His work has concentrated on the nineteenth and twentieth-century history of political thought and intellectual history with a particular emphasis on international political thought, political thought on nationalism, patriotism and cosmopolitanism, empire, and the intellectual history of ideas of “Europe” and “the West”, as well as of attitudes towards the EEC/EU. His other books include "Liberty Abroad: J.S. Mill on International Relations" (Cambridge University Press – “Ideas in Context” series, 2013), "Victorian Political Thought on France and the French" (Palgrave Macmillan, 2002) and "Mill on Nationality" (Routledge, 2002).
Anatol Lieven
Anatol Lieven is the director of the Eurasia Program and the Andrew Bacevich chair in American Diplomatic History at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft. He was formerly a professor at Georgetown University in Qatar and in the War Studies Department of King’s College London. He also served as a member of the advisory committee of the South Asia Department of the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office and of the academic board of the Valdai discussion club in Russia. He holds a B.A. and Ph.D. in history and political science from Cambridge University in England.