Tariq Ali on the Future

I'd never found Tariq Ali's thoughts on international relations particularly enlightening, though he's always had a great prose style. On the ins-and-outs of Pakistani politics, however, he's been consistent must-reading throughout the crisis. The latest:

Some of us had hoped that, with her death, the People's Party might start a new chapter. After all, one of its main leaders, Aitzaz Ahsan, president of the Bar Association, played a heroic role in the popular movement against the dismissal of the chief justice. Mr Ahsan was arrested during the emergency and kept in solitary confinement. He is still under house arrest in Lahore. Had Benazir been capable of thinking beyond family and faction she should have appointed him chairperson pending elections within the party. No such luck.

The result almost certainly will be a split in the party sooner rather than later. Mr Zardari was loathed by many activists and held responsible for his wife's downfall. Once emotions have subsided, the horror of the succession will hit the many traditional PPP followers except for its most reactionary segment: bandwagon careerists desperate to make a fortune.

It's hard to tell if that prediction of a split should be read as a genuine prediction or else just an expression of what he hopes will happen, since it's clear that Ali doesn't care for Nawaz Sharif and views himself as a PPP supporter of sorts.

Comments

I'd never found Tariq Ali's thoughts on international relations particularly enlightening...

Ah, it's that thing where MY and Chris Bertram at CT and probably every other liberal fella out there must express the habitual disdain for a guy to the left of them. Very Serious People indeed.

Posted by abb1 | December 31, 2007 11:08 AM

...and in almost identical way, too. Funny that.

Posted by abb1 | December 31, 2007 11:10 AM

Now what exactly am I supposed to find "great" about that prose style? This sample is stylistically bland, thanks to cliches ("no such luck") and passive constructions, and the punctuation is positively hyperactive.

Posted by miles | December 31, 2007 11:36 AM

Also the pronoun "her" in the first sentence is without a grammatical referent (even in context), although the alert reader can rewrite it mentally as "Some of us had hoped that, with Bhutto's death, the People's Party might start a new chapter.

Posted by miles | December 31, 2007 11:41 AM

Not to be an annoying grammar-hound. . .and I know not every opinion maker has the writerly resources of an Andrew Sullivan. . .it's just that the MSM always complains about the stylistic and grammatical sloppiness of the blogosphere, and it doesn't help for bloggers to lavish praise on mediocre MSM writing.

Posted by miles | December 31, 2007 11:45 AM

"its most reactionary segment: bandwagon careerists desperate to make a fortune."

Sounds like Hillary Clinton's establishment supporters to me.

Posted by mad6798j | December 31, 2007 11:48 AM

I think Matt is being a bit snippy by casting Ali as permanently anti Nawaz Sharif. It's worth noting that Sharif has been just as corrupt as Bhutto with the added joy that he did more overt deals with the Islamists and the Saudis (and their Wahabs.)

Doesn't seem like much a crime to invest your hopes in someone other than Sharif. Maybe not realistic, but hopes aren't about realism.

Posted by Meh | December 31, 2007 12:06 PM

"Also the pronoun "her" in the first sentence is without a grammatical referent (even in context)"

Here we see the true grammar Nazi, despite his protestations to the contrary. The entire article is about the impact of Bhutto's death on the PPP. So what other "her" could possibly be referenced in or out of immediate context? Lady Luck, perhaps?

"I'd never found Tariq Ali's thoughts on international relations particularly enlightening,"

Ditto for you, Matt. At least Ali is talking about places he's actually been and stuff he actually knows about. Which is why he's qualified to write for the Independent on the issue and you're kvetching on a blog.

Posted by Richard Steven Hack | December 31, 2007 9:11 PM

maybe if we spent less time discussing his grammatical acuity, and more time discussing his idea's you might find them to be a little more enlightened than say the average news paper editorial page.
come on when the new york times the paper of satan according to most conservative pundits, is giving krystol a column i think its time we started worrying more about our own ideas and less about someone who is actually aware of the history of Pakistan(or at least willing to speak of it)

Posted by paul bass | January 2, 2008 3:28 PM

"I'd never found Tariq Ali's thoughts on international relations particularly enlightening"

as a student of international relations i was thoroughly bemused by your comment. Tariq happens to provide some of the most accurate historical accounts and insightful political analysis...

perhaps if the author were to look beyond the narrow world of american media and press, he would be better able to appreciate tariq's contributions.

Posted by Shehzad Qazi | January 3, 2008 1:14 AM

Tariq Ali said some bad things, somewhere back there about supporting the Iraqi resistance, and you don't get a job at the Atlantic by having these folks as fellow travellers.

The fact that "Bush in Babylon" was incredibly more predictive than what MY was pushing at the time only proves his point!

Posted by Ed Marshall | January 3, 2008 1:19 AM

"Also the pronoun "her" in the first sentence is without a grammatical referent (even in context)"

Here we see the true grammar Nazi, despite his protestations to the contrary. The entire article is about the impact of Bhutto's death on the PPP. So what other "her" could possibly be referenced in or out of immediate context? Lady Luck, perhaps?

The rule of proper written English are the rules of proper written English. Miles didn't invent them.

Posted by Joe Flynn | January 11, 2008 10:39 AM