On the run
A debate

Dear Aman, one thing, that I’ve learned from our correspondence, is the insight, that what Europeans think is almost unavoidably one-sided and constrained. But what does that mean for the election of Donald Trump to the American presidency?

Dear Georg, I write to you from the midst of what Don Delillo calls an “Airborne Toxic Event” in his novel, White Noise.

That’s a fantastic idea. Everyone should move around every few years, to a new country, in a different culture. That could possibly be a solution for a lot: Frenchmen in Bangalore, Indians in Namibia, Italians in Memphis.

Dear Georg, This weekend, I was at a panel on migration where I pushed the panelists to offer some sort of vision on how to resolve this  crisis.

Dear Aman, One thing is definitely clear: Europe is threatened with a breakup – the united, auspicious, post-war Europe. And a fundamental reason for this is the hatred of refugees.

Dear Georg, One evening in May, I bumped into one of the loneliest men in Istanbul. I met Wasim Shamma on a park bench in Fatih, a neighbourhood where a large number of Syrian refugees have taken up residence.

Dear Aman, how does one, how can one even talk about the refugees? About fleeing? About that which drives people? About that, which people bring with them? About that, which makes them who they are?

Dear Georg, I read your account of the recent elections in Germany with great interest. I suppose this rightward tilt is not all that surprising, or is it? I suppose it is part of a wider trend, and so you right ask: how do we counter the successes of right-wing radicals?

Dear Aman, there were elections. The right-wing, radical party, AfD and their rejection of refugee policy achieved big successes. Some people are in shock, others are acting like nothing happened.

Dear Georg, Apologies for this long absence from our conversation. I would gladly beam you up, but alas I’m not sure where to bring you. No place seems to be free of nationalist hysteria coloured by a fear of imagined enemies.

Dear Aman, This may sound a bit emotional, but I’m happy you exist. I am anyways, but especially am right now. When I write to you, it’s like I can beam myself out of all the insanity that I’m surrounded by on a daily basis.

Dear Georg, Time has quickened its flow along the course of this conversation. The horror of the Paris attack is yet to recede, a fresh round of attacks is underway in Jakarta, and Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso. Earlier this week it was Istanbul.

Dear Aman, I was in Paris for the second time. I was there after the attacks on the offices of Charlie Hebdo and saw people standing together, night after night at the Place de la République...

Dear Georg, It seems Europe has changed since we last corresponded: Paris is stricken, Brussels is in lockdown and if early intelligence is to be believed, at least one of the Paris attackers was traveling on a forged Syrian passport...

Dear Georg, Thank you for your thoughtful reply. These are all very important questions you raise; before I get to them let me share with you a story of musafir who travelled from from Somaliland to Germany.

Dear Aman, You caught me. You noticed something in me that I don’t want to see. I consider myself to be outside of a world of thought that only talks about “self-defence”, “invasion”, “measures.”

Dear Aman, What you said was right – money flows freely, people falter at borders. This is an untenable situation, a personal and moral insult representative of all of humanity.

Dear Georg, I read your mail with great interest. The current situation across Europe is very intriguing, and I look forward to more details on how Germany is engaging with this sudden arrival of over a million people. 

Dear Aman, I’d be happy to describe to you what’s going on in Germany at the moment – at least I’d be happy to try, because actually I don’t understand it myself. And incidentally that’s the way it is for most Germans...