Rethink: Cause and Consequences of September 11

by Giorgio Baravalle (Editor), John Berger, Kofi Annan

September 11 was a departure point that will define our future. Consequently, we have all been forced to rethink, an act that requires introspection and reinterpretation of standard thinking. Rethink , a de.MO project, is a book about history and politics, a book about our lives and about our world and what we are trying to accomplish in it. Rethink confronts our diversity, our stupidity and cleverness, our preoccupations and rage, our laughter and desperate tears, our need for justice and love, our thirst for blood and power, our need to nourish and be nourished, our need to breathe, close our eyes and dream. The contributors to Rethink had the freedom to create their own voices and were encouraged to respond in a manner that would acknowledge the historical events and causes that brought us to September 11. Their varied responses create a document of great interest at a time when politics and values are in tremendous flux. In Rethink , we are forced to be open-minded, to review all opinions and issues with the possibility that we might emerge with a new perspective and personal ideology. Contributors Jon Lee Anderson, Kofi Annan, John Berger, Alexandra Boulat, Zbigniew Brzezinski, George W. Bush, Noam Chomsky, Wesley Clark, John Cooley, The Dalai Lama, Robert Fisk, Vaira Vike-Freiberga, Thomas L. Friedman, Gunter Grass, Ron Haviv, Christopher Hitchens, Michael Ignatieff, Muzamil Jaleel, Gary Knight, Antonin Kratochvil, Lewis H. Lapham, Matt McAllester, Takis Michas, Christopher Morris, James Nachtwey, Joseph S. Nye, David Rieff, Arundhati Roy, Edward Said, Eyad Sarraj, Uri Savir, Jonathan Schell, William Schultz, Susan Sontag and Admiral Stansfield Turner Rethink has received the Photo District News Best Book Selection and the Communication Arts Best Book Selection.

584 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2004

Reviews

[sologdin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Solid collection of writings on its subject and the regular sequellae, perhaps with some contributions now overcome by events (interesting how some predictions have fared, this far down the line), but overall broad in geographic scope but focused in time. Eschewing blithe summation of all sorts, the entirety certainly leaves the impression that believers of the official US position are naïve. The range of ideological perspectives is catholic--everything from Noam Chomsky and Arundhati Roy to GWB and Brzezinski. Some military opinions, some journalist's recitations, some testimonials. Best single article is Cooley's essay on proxy wars. Great photographs.

[Bradley Hanson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Photography and essays about the conditions and foreign policy that created the actions on 9/11/01.