Ian Buruma

Bard College

Bio

Ian Buruma is Paul W. Williams Professor of Human Rights and Journalism at Bard College.

Featured Work

USS Denver and the Republic of Korea Navy in the East China Sea. CREDIT: <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/us-pacific-command/13472390513">U.S. Pacific Command</a> <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/">(CC)</a>

MAY 2, 2017 Podcast

The Coming War with China? The Ethics of Confrontation in the Pacific

Are the United States and China on the brink of war? Can the two nations avoid miscalculation and instead find common ground? Find out what ...

NOV 13, 2015 Podcast

The Global Refugee Crisis

How can Christian leaders help Europe cope with the flood of refugees? Renowned Czech theologian Father Tomàš Halik argues that Christianity, especially the Catholic Church, ...

DEC 13, 2013 Podcast

Japan 1941: Countdown to Infamy

Why did Japan recklessly attack the United States in 1941, launching a war that most of the nation's leaders knew they were almost certain to lose? ...

Year Zero: A History of 1945

OCT 1, 2013 Podcast

Year Zero: A History of 1945

Ian Buruma makes a compelling case that many of the modern triumphs, such as the European Union, the United Nations, and Japanese pacifism, as well ...

Taming the Gods: Religion and Democracy on Three Continents

MAR 17, 2010 Podcast

Taming the Gods: Religion and Democracy on Three Continents

Focusing on Muslims in Europe, Ian Buruma argues that religions (including Islam) and liberal democracies are compatible, despite many peoples' fears. Democracy allows space for ...

MAY 29, 2008 Podcast

Olympic Mettle: Business, Civil Society, and Politics During the Beijing Games

An expert panel discusses the ethics of engagement with China in the context of the Olympics. What lasting positive or negative effects, if any, will ...

image of book cover - Murder in Amsterdam: The Death of Theo Van Gogh and the Limits of Tolerance

NOV 20, 2006 Podcast

Murder in Amsterdam: The Death of Theo Van Gogh and the Limits of Tolerance

Ian Buruma explores what happens when political Islam collides with a secular Western European nation.

Occidentalism: The West in the Eyes of its Enemies by Ian Buruma

APR 8, 2004 Transcript

Occidentalism: The West in the Eyes of Its Enemies

Buruma points out that the hatred animating Islamic radicals conforms to the classic counter-Enlightenment vision of Western society as rootless, timid, and soulless.

Bad Elements: Chinese Rebels from Los Angeles to Beijing by Ian Buruma

DEC 5, 2001 Transcript

Bad Elements: Chinese Rebels from Los Angeles to Beijing

The Chinese government sees itself as the caretaker of the entire "cosmic order" in China and views democracy as a destabilizing force that would cause ...