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War in the 20th Century

Melvyn Bragg talks to Michael Ignatieff about the life of the philosopher Isaiah Berlin and the modern universal human rights culture and to Sir Michael Howard about warfare of the 20th century.

In the first programme of a new series examining ideas and events which have shaped thinking in philosophy, religion, science and the arts, Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss warfare and human rights in the 20th century. He talks to Michael Ignatieff about the life of one of the 20th century’s leading philosophers, Isaiah Berlin, and to Sir Michael Howard about the 20th century will be remembered; as a century of progress or as one of the most murderous in history. When we see pictures on television of starving people in war torn areas most of us feel we must ‘do’ something. Where does the feeling that we are in some way responsible for our fellow human beings originate historically? How has technology affected the concept of the Just War? And what are the prospects for world peace as we enter the next century? With Michael Ignatieff, writer, broadcaster and biographer of Isaiah Berlin; Sir Michael Howard, formerly Regius Professor of History, Oxford University and joint editor of the new Oxford History of the Twentieth Century.

Available now

30 minutes

Last on

Thu 15 Oct 1998 21:30

Broadcasts

  • Thu 15 Oct 1998 09:02
  • Thu 15 Oct 1998 21:30

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