Virtual Roundtable: Latif Tas’ response

The two biggest political and social transformations in the world at the moment are much bigger than ‘areas’. Climate change is obviously global, even if it affects/is going to affect some areas more quickly than others. The most affected areas must understand the areas which are going to affect them. Even more urgently, although the vast number of refugees in the world today come disproportionately from specific areas, if they are lucky, individual migrants and families become members of a diaspora, or more than one diaspora. They’re merged in, more or (often) less, with other people from other areas. The less fortunate simply become refugees. Their ‘area’ may become just a tent, in a camp. I’m not suggesting here that ‘area studies’ has nothing to offer. But the ‘area experts’ must understand how limited a ‘pure’ area focus is. An example is surely the ‘experts’ on Iraq whose advice before and after the invasion was so catastrophically wrong.