A good journalist is modest; his only job is simple: to decide what counts as news. Michael Ignatieff countdecidegood Change image and share on social
I am an English-speaking Canadian, but my entire family - Russian exiles and the Canadians they married - is buried in Quebec, and if Quebec were to separate, I would feel I had been cut in two. Michael Ignatieff burycanadiancut Change image and share on social
Politics is a tough game. But would I change places with a trauma nurse in an emergency ward on a busy Saturday night? No way. There are lots of jobs in the world that are tougher than politics. And politicians and people who've done it need to remember that. Michael Ignatieff busychangeemergency share on social
An intellectual may be interested in ideas and policies for their own sake, but a politician's interest is exclusively in the question of whether an idea's time has come. Michael Ignatieff exclusivelyideaintellectual Change image and share on social
Intellectuals are good at seeing the big picture. But they are not so good at process. Michael Ignatieff biggoodintellectual Change image and share on social
For every African state, like Ghana, where democratic institutions seem secure, there is a Mali, a Cote d'Ivoire, and a Zimbabwe, where democracy is in trouble. Michael Ignatieff africancotedemocracy Change image and share on social
Patriotism is strong nationalistic feeling for a country whose borders and whose legitimacy and whose ethnic composition is taken for granted. Michael Ignatieff bordercompositioncountry Change image and share on social
The disagreeable reality for those who believe in human rights is that there are some occasions - and Iraq may be one of them - when war is the only real remedy for regimes that live by terror. Michael Ignatieff disagreeablehumaniraq Change image and share on social
The wars of the future will be fought by computer technicians and by lawyers and high-altitude specialists, and that may mean war will be increasingly abstract, hard to think about and hard to control. Michael Ignatieff abstractaltitudecomputer share on social
America is exceptional in combining standard great-power realism with extravagant idealism about the country's redemptive role in creating international order. Michael Ignatieff americacombinecountry Change image and share on social
