George Szamuely

George Szamuely (born 1954) is a senior research fellow at the Global Policy Institute. He was a frequent columnist for the Taki's Top Drawer pages of the New York Press. Szamuely has also written for Antiwar.com, Counterpunch, Commentary, The Observer and the Centre for Research on Globalization. He is a frequent contributor to the RT show CrossTalk.

Biography

He was born in Hungary to Tibor Szamuely (1925–1972), of a Hungarian Jewish merchant family, and Nina (née Orlova; 1923-1974), of Russian parentage.[1] His great-uncle was the Communist revolutionary Tibor Szamuely (1890–1919). His sister Helen Szamuely, was a prominent figure in the founding of the UK Independence Party.[2] He was educated in England at University College London and at the London School of Economics. He received a PhD from London Metropolitan University.

He worked for some years as an editor at the Times Literary Supplement and at The National Law Journal. He was also a weekly columnist at the New York Press.

Arrest for overdue library books

Szamuely was arrested by the New York Police Department on October 5, 1999, for having 570 overdue library books from the New York University campus library, which were packed in 29 bags in his apartment, and which he refused to return after repeated warnings.[3] The books were not valuable, but some were out of print so hard to replace.[4]

His fines ran up to $31,000,[5] although this was allegedly the cost of replacing them.[6] The New York Post reported that Szamuely renewed the books on their due dates, but did not return them.[4]

Political views

Szamuely has been an ardent critic of the United States foreign policy, arguing that the reality is the diametric opposite of the lofty rhetoric. The professed humanitarian aspirations invariably lead to extremely non-humanitarian outcomes.[7] His opposition to the state of Israel has allied him with paleoconservatism and libertarianism.

He has been highly critical of the workings of the United Nations tribunals, in particular the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia. He argues that the tribunal and human rights groups such as Human Rights Watch foster conflict rather than reconciliation and serve the interests of Western powers and those of their allies by targeting their opponents, while ignoring or minimizing their, often far more serious, crimes.[8] He has expressed doubts as to whether the International Criminal Court would ever be willing or able to administer impartial justice.[9] He has argued that Serbia's actions in Yugoslavia have been unfairly misinterpreted.[10]

Szamuely's history of NATO's intervention in the Balkans, Bombs for Peace: NATO's Humanitarian War on Yugoslavia,[11] is published by Amsterdam University Press.

References
  1. "The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. 2004. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/31745. ISBN 978-0-19-861412-8. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  2. "Helen Szamuely - Register". The Times. April 20, 2017. Retrieved January 6, 2022.
  3. Blair, Jayson (October 6, 1999). "N.Y.U. Library Scofflaw Taken Out of Circulation". New York Times. Retrieved April 4, 2023.
  4. Parascandola, Rocco (October 6, 1999). "Ex-student 'Booked' in Theft". New York Post. Retrieved April 3, 2023.
  5. Mike Claffey "Book Thrown At Library Scofflaw", New York Daily News, October 6, 1999
  6. Alexander Cockburn "Living on Borrowed Books" Archived April 14, 2013, at archive.today, The Free Press, October 13, 1999
  7. Exceptional Empire on YouTube
  8. Edward Herman and David Peterson and george szamuely (February 25, 2007). "Human Rights Watch in Service to the War Party: Inc…". ZCommunications via archive.ph. Archived from the original on April 16, 2013. Retrieved January 6, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: uses authors parameter (link)
  9. CrossTalk: Selective Justice on YouTube
  10. George Szamuely, The Yugoslavian Fairy Tale
  11. George Szamuely, Bombs for Peace: NATO's Humanitarian War on Yugoslavia
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