Host Harry Kreisler welcomes writer and journalist Tariq Ali for a discussion of Pakistan and it relations with the United States. He places the present crisis in its historical context exploring the origins of the Pakistani state, the failure to forge a national identity, the inability and unwillingness of Pakistani leaders to address the country's poverty and inequality, and the role of the military in the country's spiral toward violence and disunity. In this context, Tariq Ali highlights the significance of the U.S. relationship throughout Pakistan's history and he analyzes current US policy and it implications for stability in the region.
In this interview Dr. Sari Hanafi (American University of Beirut) discusses his journey from the Palestinian refugee camp where he was raised to becoming a sociologist conducting research on how Palestinian areas, both in the Occupied Territories and in refugee camps, are governed as "spaces of exception" where neither the rule of law nor basic political rights apply. He also discusses the challenge of negotiating his roles as a professional and public sociologist, and the difficulty of engaging in research that is both locally rooted and globally relevant.