Ukraine, Palestine, and Other Troubles by Slavoj Žižek is a searing exploration of the apocalyptic tenor of our times, a work that takes as its subject the crises defining our global moment. Žižek, with his inimitable combination of philosophical rigor, psychoanalytic insight, and political audacity, offers nothing less than an intellectual intervention into the madness of the world as it unravels before our eyes. The book is as timely as it is timeless, as much an analysis of our immediate geopolitical crises as a reflection on the historical forces that brought us here and the potential for futures yet to be imagined.
Žižek begins by confronting the reader with an unsettling proposition: what if the catastrophes of our age—pandemics, ecological collapse, the rise of authoritarianism, and the resurgence of devastating wars—are not signs of an impending apocalypse, but rather markers that the apocalypse has already begun? What if the “zero hour” has long passed, and our only recourse is to engage with the ruins of history to forge something radically new? This is not a call for optimism in the face of despair but a demand for action amid the rubble of a world in crisis.
Through the lens of two ongoing conflicts—the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the enduring struggle in Palestine—Žižek lays bare the ideological and structural underpinnings of global instability. He unravels the historical contradictions and hypocrisies that sustain these crises, exposing how power operates through violence, deception, and spectacle. But Žižek’s analysis is not limited to the geopolitical; he insists that the roots of these conflicts are combined with the deeper logics of capitalism, nationalism, and the human psyche. He challenges readers to see these wars not as isolated events but as symptoms of a broader systemic failure—a failure that demands not reform but a revolutionary reimagining of the social order.
Žižek’s writing is uncompromising in its critique of both liberal complacency and conservative cynicism. He deconstructs the narratives of victimhood and aggression that dominate public discourse, revealing the complicity of global powers in perpetuating cycles of violence. At the same time, he refuses to indulge in easy moralism or reductive binaries. For Žižek, the task of philosophy is not to provide comforting answers but to ask the questions that disrupt our assumptions and force us to confront the uncomfortable truths of our existence.
In this work, Žižek draws on an astonishing array of sources, from Hegel and Marx to Lacan and Badiou, presenting a variety of ideas that challenges readers to think beyond the confines of conventional wisdom. His analysis of the Ukrainian crisis, for example, situates the conflict within the broader collapse of the post-Cold War order, highlighting the impotence of declining superpowers and the dangers of resurgent nationalism. Similarly, his discussion of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict interrogates the ideological foundations of Zionism and the role of Western powers in perpetuating a cycle of occupation and resistance. Yet Žižek is careful not to reduce these conflicts to mere abstractions; he remains attuned to the human suffering and existential stakes that define them.
Throughout the book, Žižek returns to the central question of political agency: what can be done in a world where traditional forms of resistance seem inadequate, and the risks of action are matched only by the perils of inaction? He argues for a radical politics that does not shy away from the tragic dimensions of human history but embraces them as the ground for genuine transformation. This is a politics that seeks not to return to a mythical past or to preserve the status quo but to create a new future out of the contradictions and antagonisms of the present.
Žižek’s prose is as challenging as it is exhilarating, demanding active engagement from the reader. His arguments are punctuated by provocative anecdotes, cultural references, and philosophical detours that illuminate the stakes of his analysis. Yet beneath the surface of his polemics lies a deep commitment to the possibility of human emancipation—a commitment that refuses to succumb to despair, even as it confronts the darkest aspects of our reality.
In Ukraine, Palestine, and Other Troubles, Žižek has written a book that is as much a diagnosis of the crises of our age as it is a manifesto for a different kind of politics. It is a work that insists on the urgency of thought in a time of crisis and the necessity of action in a world that can no longer afford the luxury of complacency. For readers willing to engage with its challenges, it offers not only a critique of the present but a vision of what might yet be possible.
Simon Gros 
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