Activist, journalist, and theorist, Eqbal Ahmad (1934-1999) was admired and consulted by revolutionaries and activists as well as policymakers and academics. This work collects his writings. It reflects his distinct understanding of world politics, as well as his profound sense of empathy for those living in poverty and oppression.

People like Ahmad do not come along often. That is why the publication of his Selected Writings is an occasion for sorrow as well as celebration. -- Amitava Kumar The Nation The editors of this work have rightfully collected the best writings... to demonstrate [Ahmad's] continued relevance in this turbulent world. -- Stuart Schaar Journal of Palestine Studies

It is a fascinating experience to view major events of the past half century through Eqbal Ahmad's discerning eye. -- Noam Chomsky Eqbal Ahmad was perhaps the shrewdest and most original anti-imperialist analyst of the postwar world. Ahmad's themes were always liberation and injustice, or how to achieve the first without reproducing more of the second. Humanity and genuine secularism in this blood-drenched old century of ours had no finer champion. -- Edward Said, author of Orientalism Eqbal Ahmad...was a voice of faith and courage--faith in mankind, faith in decency, faith in knowledge and facts -- Seymour M. Hersh, author of Chain of Command: The Road from 9/11 to Abu Ghraib Eqbal Ahmad is a brilliant man with brilliant insights. My only complaint about him is that he is not here now, when we need him most. -- Arundhati Roy, author of The God of Small Things Ahmad's world outlook transcends nationalist pride, expressing a profound passion for the equal right to dignity of humans in every corner of the globe. His knowledge of world affairs was formidable, coming in part from his personal acquaintance with important political actors on several continents. His style, both in speaking and writing, was dramatic and witty. He was not an armchair analyst, but a participant in some of the most important struggles of our time in Algeria, in Vietnam, in Palestine. He was never bound by a single ideology, always committed to social justice and nonviolence. In short, an exemplary human being. -- Howard Zinn, author of A People's History of the United States This collection transports one back to Eqbal's living room, where he is sitting on the floor, talking politics until the early hours of the morning. It beautifully orchestrates the discussion in its excellent organization and in the manner in which the introductions to each section underscore the themes central to Eqbal's thought. Eqbal's commitment to a revolutionary politics that is moral rather than tactical, to fostering a transnational intellectual and political community, has never been more germane. Despite its sorrow at the betrayals of revolutionary struggles, this book is filled with hope in the power of people and ideas to remake history. -- Amrita Basu, professor of political science and women and gender studies, Amherst College I've spent much of my adult life, it seems, reading and learning from Eqbal Ahmad. He was a voice of faith and courage--faith in mankind, faith in decency, faith in knowledge and facts, and the courage to always tell truth to power, no matter what the personal risk. In these essays, his legacy, he told us how to deal with Osama bin Laden and his terrorism. We did not listen. -- Seymour M. Hersh, author of Chain of Command: The Road from 9/11 to Abu Ghraib For those looking to muster intellectual resources with which to negotiate a way through the War on Terror, Ahmad is a must read. -- Mahmood Mamdani, author of Good Muslim, Bad Muslim