Psychiatric Crisis among the World Leaders is Fascinating and Very Dangerous | Olivier Roy
- Суспільство
- 76 хвилин
- 23 квітня 2025
The French philosopher, orientalist, political scientist, and sociologist Olivier Roy realized early in his career that he would not spend his life working as a schoolteacher. He was most interested in various crises. After the war in Afghanistan began in the late 1970s, Roy regularly traveled to the country, to the mujahideen, and studied the war's impact on the traditional Afghan society. His understanding of Afghanistan’s unique context proved useful when he was advising and organizing special UN missions to the country during the Soviet invasion. Later, Olivier Roy served as the head of the OSCE mission during the civil war in Tajikistan after the collapse of the Soviet Union. As a scholar, he has focused on Islamic fundamentalism, Islam in the West, and Middle East. Currently, he writes about the crisis of culture and its alarming consequences for the world.
Roy believes that while crises are dangerous for society, they force people to take responsibility. For him, Donald Trump’s rise to power in the United States is an example of a good crisis. For instance, Europe slowly began to realize that it was left alone, without American support, and would have to defend its principles on its own. In order to protect its way of life, Europe will need to rearm, which requires internal consensus. “For the first time in a long while, we have to ask people whether they are ready to die for their way of life, for their principles. We don’t know the answer. For the young generation, the idea of joining the army is exotic. We are confronted with that choice — are we ready to fight to defend way of life or to surrender?” Roy says.
Journalist Nataliya Gumenyuk speaks with Olivier Roy about the crisis of culture, its replacement by codes and norms, how society can return to reality and the importance of social connections, madmen in power, and where he was wrong about the Russia-Ukraine war.
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