Praise for Lost Minds

What's something exciting your business offers? Say it here.“In this visionary and profoundly compelling novel, Munir Sheikh masterfully weaves together cutting-edge science, political intrigue, and deep human drama to chart an audacious path toward a more rational and peaceful world. 

Moving seamlessly from intimate struggles against cognitive bias to the high-stakes challenges of governing a fractured United States—and onward to the geopolitical quest to resurrect Herzl’s forgotten dream of equality and coexistence—the story is a breathtaking tour de force. It challenges entrenched narratives that perpetuate conflict and human suffering, while rekindling hope grounded in reason and shared humanity. 

Thought-provoking and timely, the novel culminates in a compelling vision of a New Society, demonstrating how rationality, empathy, and moral courage can prevail over fear, propaganda, and division. 

With unforgettable characters, heart-wrenching conflicts, and a bold yet credible optimism about the future, this is not merely a book to be read, but an experience that enlightens and inspires.”

— Anwar Shah
Non-resident Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution, Washington, DC

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“Just when rationality seems in retreat, Sheikh weaves a thoughtful and hopeful story that grabs the reader and challenges not just what they think about the big issues of today’s world, but how they go about thinking.”

—Michael Wernick, Former Clerk of the Privy Council, Secretary to Cabinet, and Head of the Public Service, Government of Canada. 

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At a moment when the world is captivated by the promise and peril of artificial intelligence, Munir Sheikh turns our attention to a more consequential frontier: the untapped potential of human intelligence itself. Set against the stark realities of territorial conflict and ideological division, Lost minds imagines a future in which peace and prosperity are not imposed by machines, but cultivated through a deeper commitment to rationality, empathy, and moral clarity. Sheikh tells a deeply human story, of love and loss, of belief examined and prejudice undone, while asking what becomes possible when people learn to think better, together.

An economist by training, Sheikh understands scarcity, of resources, of trust, and of rational judgement. As a novelist, he dismantles these constraints. Drawing on familiar centres of power, from the White House to the fault lines of the Middle East, he constructs a world in which homo economicus gives way to homo rationalis: individuals capable of transcending narrow self-interest in pursuit of collective progress.

Lost Minds is, at its core, a global narrative. From the icy heights of Nepal to the burning sands of the Middle East, Sheikh’s characters traverse continents and convictions, confronting competing ideologies while expanding the boundaries of human capacity and connection.

This is fiction for the thinking reader: for those who admire science fiction not merely for its imagination, but for its plausibility. Like Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four, Washington and Jerusalem projects a future that feels unsettlingly close. It offers a glimpse of a world in which the human mind and heart prevail over fear and tyranny. This is a novel that challenges, provokes, and ultimately insists on being read.

—Murtaza Haider, Professor & Executive Director of the Cities Institute; Radhe Krishna Gupta Executive Chair in Cities and Communities, Alberta School of Business, University of Alberta

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“Munir Sheikh's novel is well worth the read. The Israeli Palestinian issue is a difficult one to solve and his story seeks a solution. Whatever view one has, most of us would agree the best thing for both Israelis and Palestinians is to come to some agreement and bury resentments. The novel provides a message of hope.”

—Jack Mintz, President’s Fellow of the School of Public Policy at the University of Calgary, Canada

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“Munir Sheikh had a distinguished public service career and in this novel one sees his values shine through to give us hope as we are called on to deal with the two biggest issues confronting humanity.”

—Donald Savoie, Canada Research Chair in Public Administration and Governance at the  Université de Moncton