Defending Identity
“Some of the liveliest and most illuminating sections of the book are anecdotes of Mr. Sharansky’s meetings...One appreciates Mr. Sharansky’s flashes of humor.”
New York Sun
Natan Sharansky believes that the challenge of the twenty-first century is to assert our cultural, ethnic, or religious identities, a struggle that has never been more important than now.
Who is better prepared to defend principles in a volatile world? Is it those with strong national, religious, ethnic, or tribal identities who accept democracy, or democrats who view identity as a divisive prejudice? Sharansky argues that valueless cosmopolitanism is dangerous, even in democracies. Together, identity and democracy assert a powerful and benign sense of purpose, but when at odds, they beget fundamentalism and rootlessness.
Praise