Tariq Ali on the Fragility of Western Civilization 

By Daniel S. Burton

Ali’s lecture, “The Fragilities of Western Civilization”, critiqued Western imperialism and civilization. The lecture focused on types of human rights including gender rights, political rights, and the fight against discrimination from the lens of current and historical events. 

Ali opened his lecture by quoting an interview with Gandhi. The interviewer asked, “what do you think of Western civilization?”; Gandhi said, “it would be a good idea.” 

Ali stated the reason for his topic is obvious: for the past year, many human rights organizations, including the United Nations, have watched the current genocide in Palestine. Instead of standing up and recognizing that could lead to their destruction, the West backed them uncritically. 

The Western world is becoming fragile. Elected states try to stop people from saying what they want about a subject, which has never happened before; not even during the Vietnam war, which had the march outside the pentagon, crippled GIs demanding the war end. 

Ali noted civilizations are often short lived affairs. The law of communication (to travel and trade freely) can be argued with those worked up about migrants travelling and job-seeking. The law of communication is violated by every Western government today, most recently by Donald Trump by deporting South American migrants, a very dangerous decision for politics moving forward. 

“I fear for this world,” said Ali. If people can watch the suffering that will continue if the war in Gaza is renewed, part of the American empire could say, “if they got away with it, we can too.” Since the WWII genocide of the Jewish people, one would think we learned our lesson, but Vietnam occurred, Libya, the recent Syrian war, and so on… but most shockingly is the undergoing in modern Israel. Meanwhile the West watches Israeli soldiers gleefully kill day after day, and allows the Western world to walk by. 

Politics and democracy, said Ali, are being hollowed out. Money controls everything and politicians get too much leeway. In the current climate, youth struggle with alienation from the political system. Many do not vote because they say it changes nothing, and in a way, they are right! What is the difference between politicians competing to gain money? When each candidate competes for the same means, leadership is pointless.

To conclude for the younger generation, Ali declared:

“Do not be frightened away by politicians or any others telling you not to think what you want to think. The freedom to think… to make up your own mind… to read books they want you to stop reading, say what you want to say without them accusing you of antisemitism… do not ever accept that, because… the future depends on your generation and the generations to follow. You will have to fight back… and defend your rights… Collective, collegial ways of thinking create a solidarity which is absolutely necessary if our world will move forward”.

Questions and Answers 

STU’s Dr. Shannonbrooke Murphy moderated a Q&A with Ali where students and professors posed questions. 

Q: Do you have words for University administrators facing student protest?

A: People must take education seriously. Students must carry on resisting and not accepting things. [Academia] won battles before, and we can do it again.

Q: What is the role of art in facing social struggle?

A: All of us have the capacity to think about different things at different times. There is more to each individual than identity politics. Become involved in art, past art, through politics. Just do it. 

After the lecture, STU held a book signing made available through Fredericton’s Westminster Books. Among these was Ali’s most recent book, You Can’t Please All: Memoirs 1980-2024, a rich collection of memoirs that allows one to dive into a variety of topics from cricket to North Korea. 

Ali ultimately invited Canadians to stand together against America’s political decline and restore Western civilization.