Liquid modernity, solid elites

[Jefferson23]

By Pepe Escobar

FLORENCE - It all began as an extended meditation on the reach of Liquid War.

There's no place like Italy to observe the terminal decline of the West in all its ragged, glittery splendor. Sublime art, dizzying architecture, impeccable gastronomy and all those selected bottles of Brunello - that certainly helps. Plus there's the tickling excitement of history repeating itself all over again - as in a post-mod, remixed decline and fall of the Roman Empire.

I had the pleasure of being one of the guests at the Internazionale festival in Ferrara - a sort of giant annual happening of world journalists in this Emilia Romagna powerhouse, essentially organized by a small group of brave and glowingly dedicated women.

Equally exciting was the pleasure of spending unrivalled quality time with Rahimullah Yusufzai, arguably the world's top authority on Pashtun tribal areas and all things AfPak. Rahimullah is an immensely dignified Pashtun gentleman; it's as if he's way beyond impermanence. No wonder soon I began referring to him as the Buddha of Peshawar.

The least I could do to partially reciprocate all the precious information imparted by the Buddha of Peshawar - from Osama bin Laden stories to the Russians and Chinese now actively pushing for a regional solution for the Afghan tragedy - was to try to convey to him the true spirit of Renaissance Europe.

remainder: http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/MJ12Ak01.html