“More compassion, less judgment”

“This will wake us all up forever,” says Michael Ignatieff. The Canadian human rights advocate and president of the Central European University explains how “everybody will learn” from the current corona crisis engulfing the globe. He expounds on his feud with Hungary’s Victor Orban, reflects on his own indestructible Russian soul, and extols the courage to tell the people the brutal truth.

“My mum used to say life isn't for sissies,” Michael Ignatieff once told a newspaper. The Canadian of blue blooded Russian descent has never been shy to take risks for what he sees as worthwhile goals, even if he’s had to pay dearly. 
His greatest controversy has been his support of the American-led invasion of Iraq while working as director of a human rights center at Harvard University. (He later apologized.) Then, he ventured into politics and rose to the helm of Canada’s Liberal Party only to fail spectacularly. 
In 2016, Ignatieff embarked on a new adventure to become the president of Central European University, an elite, higher education ins ...