“The war waged against terror since September 11 puts a strain on democracy itself, because it is mostly waged in secret, using means that are at the edge of both law and morality. Yet democracies have shown themselves capable of keeping the secret exercise of power under control.”

Canadian author, academic and former politician, born 1947

Michael Grant Ignatieff is a Canadian author, academic, and former politician. Born in 1947, he served as leader of the Liberal Party and leader of the Opposition from 2008 to 2011. He is known first as a historian, and his academic career has included senior posts at Cambridge, Oxford, Harvard, and the University of Toronto. More recently, he served as rector and president of Central European University from 2016 to 2021. His public life has moved between scholarship and politics, with writing and ideas at the center of both.