Fred Halliday dead

[Idris2002]

Fred Halliday, doyen of Marxian International RElations has died in Barcelona.

Open Democracy tribute to him here:

http://www.opendemocracy.net/david-hayes/fred-halliday-1946-2010-tribute-0

I was uncomplimentary about him on another thread, but I have to admit he was always good value.

As I said on that other thread:

His books were always worth reading, even after 1989, but I can't say I liked him as a person. I saw him speak in Belfast years ago, and he told an anecdote about meeting someone in (I think) the Yemeni security apparatus. He and the security apparatchik had an evening singing socialist songs - a good time was had by all, except the socialists, who were all dead. Because the Yemeni guy had helped suppress them.

Even his book on the Ethiopian Revolution had to resort to mealy-mouthed phrases about 'violations of socialist legality' when describing the Dergue's Red Terror.

It will be interesting to see which of his books last.
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[butchersapron]

The most intellectually coherent exponent of compassionate imperialism there was.

 

[southside]

Everybody used him, ripped him off and abused him, now freddies dead.

 

[Idris2002]

The most intellectually coherent exponent of compassionate imperialism there was.

It was revealing that he switched from Moscow-sympathetic Eurocommunism to the Washington Fan Club as soon as the fat lady sang in Berlin.

 

[butchersapron]

I'm not so sure it was turn-coating, more a consistent pursuit of his idiotic idea of always supporting the side of the histrionically progressive forces - hence he could support both the recent invasion of Afghanistan and the soviet one on the same basis. (Which also accidentally reveals what ratfuckers both sides are as well)

 

[Idris2002]

I'm not so sure it was turn-coating, more a consistent pursuit of his idiotic idea of always supporting the side of the histrionically progressive forces - hence he could support both the recent invasion of Afghanistan and the soviet one on the same basis. (Which also accidentally reveals what ratfuckers both sides are as well)

That's what I meant! At least he never stooped to the level of the wankers who never stop banging about how they were left-wing in their youth but grew out of it (or did he?).

 

[audiotech]

I read one of his books and from then on avoided the rest of his works..

 

[belboid]

A good writer, with many interesting things to say. Sad what he turned into, but so it goes.

Quite a nice quote from him about meeting up with Tariq Ali again, uyears after they'd fallen out politically:

About 20 years ago I said to Tariq that God, Allah, called the two of us to His presence and said to us, “One of you is to go the left, and one of you is to go to the right.” The problem is, He didn’t tell us which was which, and maybe He didn’t know Himself.

Kinda sums him up.