Defending Civilization: A Philosopher on the Frontlines of World Conflict

Drawing on his decades of reporting from Ukraine, Sudan, Afghanistan, Bosnia, Nigeria, Libya, Syria, and Israel, globally renowned philosopher, journalist, and filmmaker Bernard-Henri Lévy will discuss his work in the world’s most troubled places and dangerous combat zones. He will impart why, in these fragile times, we must have the will to educate ourselves and apply our knowledge to repair the world.

Lévy is a French philosopher, the director of eight films, and the author of 48 books. One of the West’s foremost intellectuals, he is an ardent defender of democracy and humanism against totalitarianism and fascism. His recent books include Israel Alone (2024), The Will to See: Dispatches from a World of Misery and Hope (2021), The Virus in the Age of Madness (2020), The Empire and the Five Kings (2019), The Genius of Judaism (2017), American Vertigo: Traveling America in the Footsteps of Tocqueville (2005), and Who Killed Daniel Pearl? (2003). Lévy has made films on the war in Bosnia; Libya; Iraqi Kurdistan besieged by ISIS; and Afghanistan, Somalia, Bangladesh, Nigeria, and Ukraine. His work as an intellectual, a writer, and a filmmaker is intertwined with humanitarian activism. For 50 years, Lévy has reported on the world’s “forgotten wars” and devoted numerous books, films, and articles to these crises.

Lévy will be joined in conversation by Flora Champy, an associate professor of French, the director of undergraduate studies, and the R.K. Root University Preceptor in the Department of French and Italian at Princeton University. She is also a member of the recently established Princeton Council on Academic Freedom, a faculty group that supports academic freedom and cultivates a culture of intellectual pluralism on campus.

Open to the public. REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED. Please RSVP to confirm attendance.

Students who attend this event will receive a free copy of Lévy’s latest book, Israel Alone.

Co-sponsors:

Program in Judaic Studies
Princeton School of Public and International Affairs
University Center for Human Values
James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions
Mamdouha S. Bobst Center for Peace and Justice
Humanities Council