What is Possible Now: 33 Political Situations

Navid Kermani is one of the outstanding public intellectuals of his generation. Not one for drawing hard and fast conclusions, his style of thought is probing, observant, often straying from well-trodden paths and always peering beyond the present moment to trace connections and grasp the bigger picture.

Well known for his prize-winning novels and major works of non-fiction, Kermani has also gained widespread acclaim as a journalist, displaying a rare political sensitivity which manages to illuminate what politicians fail to see and to seek out solutions where all appears hopeless. This volume brings together his brilliantly perceptive writing from the last 30 years, on topics ranging from terror in the Middle East to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. As a record of Kermani’s uniquely compassionate curiosity, this absorbing book is a welcome antidote to the confusion and despair that stalks global politics today.

"From a considered examination of the proposition that it was the Afghans who brought down the Berlin Wall to a scintillating essay on gender in language, What is Possible Now is a dazzling, provocative and thoroughly engaging survey of our times that is nothing less than essential reading for anyone who wants to understand where we are now and what is still possible." – John Burnside, Professor of Creative Writing, University of St Andrews