Gilbert Achcar is a Lebanese academic, writer, socialist and anti-war activist. He lived in Lebanon until moving to France in 1983. He taught politics and international relations at the University of Paris VIII until 2003, when he took up a position at the Marc Bloch Centre in Berlin. Since August 2007, Achcar has been a Professor of Development Studies and International Relations at the School of Oriental and African Studies of the University of London. He is a frequent contributor to Le Monde Diplomatique, ZNet, and International Viewpoint. Gilbert Achcar is a Fellow at the International Institute for Research and Education. In March 2011, he wrote an article for ZNet that provoked a debate within the international left on the position towards the coalition intervention in Libya for humanitarian reasons. He gave his support in March 2013 to the campaign of film director Ken Loach and activist Kate Hudson for a new left-wing party in the UK. [More at Wikipedia]

January 1st, 1951 in Beirut (Age 73)