How much are we determined by our heritage and our roots - how much do they help us, and how much are they a burden for us? In an exclusive interview for N1 Television, one of the greatest contemporary writers, Amin Maalouf, speaks to Ivana Dragicevic.

To mark the release of the Croatian edition of his 2004 book “Origins: A Memoir”, French-Lebanese author Amin Maalouf, the winner of Prix Goncourt and a member of the Académie Française, talked to N1 Television’s foreign affairs editor, Ivana Dragicevic.

What are his thoughts on the issue of identity in the world of today, plagued by chaos and the pandemic? Why is it essential to have passion for things happening around us and to understand the processes and context of it all?

Is the West experiencing a decline, and what’s in store of us tomorrow? Does he still view the Mediterranean as ‘our sea’, a place that connects, or has it become an empty void which serves as a barrier between Europe and nearby worlds which seem far away from it?

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