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The beautiful game is back: Nations reclaim their names
- On colonialism, the nation-state and the World Cup.
When you hear the words “Saudi Arabia” do you think of its ruling family, its Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, its bombing Yemen into epidemic cholera – or do you think of 32 million human beings as full of fears and aspirations as any other nation, wishing they could drive, men and…
- Hamid Dabashi
- AlJazeera
What about Iran?
When you hear the word “Iran” do you think of a recalcitrant Shia theocracy spreading itself too thin in the world around it or do you think of almost 80 million human beings who call themselves “Iranians” and trace their culture and civilisation to prehistory and wish to lend that history to a…
Every four years, when the World Cup kicks off, we have a…