What in the World? Political Travels in Africa, Asia and the Americas

This book stems from the television series What in the World? which has been broadcast on RTÉ television over the past decade. Set in Africa, Asia and the Americas, the book features seldom-heard human stories – stories of intense pain and suffering, of small triumphs and occasional advances, of betrayal and complicity, of utter resilience and stout defiance. In What in the World? Peadar King provides an up close and compelling look at the human cost of flawed ideologies and distorted priorities.

‘We live in a global village and first-hand accounts, such as those contained in Peadar King’s description of his travels in Africa, Asia and the Americas, are vitally important in helping us understand our neighbours – and our responsibility to them.’ – Mary Robinson, former President of Ireland and former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights

 ‘ . . . this book will explain why the poor are poor and why many of us are rich, and very rich, riding on their backs. We burden these people without knowing, or if we bother to know, without caring. We feel no obligation to act. We have no sense of history. We do not want to know. This book can begin to change some of that.’ –Denis Halliday, former Assistant Secretary General of the United Nations

 ‘This remarkable travelogue, inquiry, and illuminating analysis provides a sympathetic and searching look at a world we have helped create but do not see – a world of painful and needless suffering, courageous resistance, and even inspiration and hope.’ – Noam Chomsky, academic, author and political activist

About the Author

Peadar King is director of KMF Productions and the presenter/producer of the RTÉ documentary series What in the World? As a commentator on international politics, he makes regular contributions to Irish broadcast and print media. He is also author of The Politics of Drugs: From Production to Consumption (The Liffey Press).