New publication of Albanian Institute for International Studies
Tirana, April 26 – Dr. Manuel Montobbio, former ambassador of Spain to Albania, and renowned author and poet has released another work, translated into AlbanianעExiting the Cat’s Alley: The deconstruction of east and west and the global governance.” This work, which has been brought to the Albanian market with the cooperation of the Albanian Institute for International Studies, “builds a vision of steady development, peace, and democracyנforces of global governance,” describes Fernando Delage of Politica Exterior.
“It is a non-conformist and much-needed textŠThe book masterfully builds on the need to seek a united fate that is supported by two schools of thought: political philosophy (close to Kant’s conception), and both modern and postmodern political science that protect democracy, its institutional creation and society,” adds Raul Benitez Manaut, Foreign Affairs Latinoamerica.
Receiving also acclaim from domestic critics, Professor Rexhep Meidani notes that the book is a worthy representation of the diplomat author’s knowledge. “It’s an invitation to think differently through a work that falls somewhere between a cultural and political essay.”
A graduate of political science at Autonom University Barcelona, as well as law and economics at the College of Europe (Bruges, Belgium), Montobbio began his diplomatic career in 1987. In addition to his four-year appointment to Albania, he served as Spanish ambassador to San Salvador, Jakarta, Mexico and Guatemalaذlaying an integral role in the peace process of the Americas. Outside of the diplomatic service, Montobbio has also held additional posts, including: the Ministry of Foreign Labor and Cooperation, director of the cabinet of the Secretary of State for Foreign Labor. This extensive cultural and political experience has since been successfully channeled by Montobbio into numerous literary and poetic works.
By Remzi Lani
“Are we in the cat’s alley?” asks Manuel Montobbio in the first pages of this excellent book.
“Beyond the metaphor, we find ourselves in front of four concave and convex mirrors, in front of lenses, in the midst of which we see ourselves, the others, and the entire world. We see the Western world and its superficial universal construction; we see the Oriental world and orientalism. From the West we see the East, we confirm and define the Other; we see the world of Occidentalismشhrough which the others see and define the West; we see the world of Asian values the declaration of which (from Asia) pretends to support and confirm a universality or collective values different from those declared as universal by the West and for the West.”
Manuel Montobbio writer and a Spanish diplomat takes the courage to enter the cat’s alley and clearly look into the mirrors reflecting a perpetually changing world. An epoch of changes, and a change of epochs. His journey passes through the mine-land of identities, the supposed end of history, clashes of civilizations, 9-11 of New York, and 11-M of Madrid, globalization, glocalization, multilateralism and unilateralism, democracy and autocracy, hard and soft power.
Where do we stand? Where are we headed? These are the questions that concern the author. We are in the cat’s alley and we risk entering the labyrinth, from which we may never get out. The classic and modern visions collide in the pages of his book and the author surprisingly sails smoothly between them. Peter Sloterdijk, Fukuyama, Huntington, Galtung, Said, Zambrano, Bauman, Besses, BeckŠare only a few to mention from his encyclopedic bibliography of the book.
The Albanian public, who had the chance to know Manuel Montobbio as the tireless ambassador of his country in Albania, now has the chance to get to know the writer and the eloquent political scientist through this publication.
