Where the Wild Frontiers Are: Manan Ahmed, Vijay Prashad, and Amitava Kumar September 26, 2011

Long before 24 hour news pundits figured out how to pronounce Abbotobad, prolific historian Manan Ahmed was investigating Pakistani politics on his blog, Chapati Mystery. He challenges the tired ideology of the “Afpak problem," turning a critical and always clever eye on popular imaginings of Pakistan on both sides of the ocean. His blog entries have been collected in a provocative and eloquent new book, Where the Wild Frontiers Are: Pakistan and the American Imagination, which Juan Cole, author of Engaging the Muslim World, has described as "a lethally witty response to the casual sadism of empire." Vijay Prashad, author of the acclaimed The Karma of Brown Folk andEverybody was Kung Fu Fighting, will broaden the geography of the conversation, discussing his views on the Arab Spring. Prashad will also share exclusive pieces from his forthcoming book on Libya. Professor Amitava Kumar, author of A Foreigner Carrying in the Crook of His Arm, A Tiny Bomb, whose journalistic bent encompasses the international war on terror, will guide the discussion.