Nepal, July 7 -- The Democratic Party nominee for the upcoming New York mayoral elections has opened cultural, ideological and political cans of worms-all at the same time. From Jerusalem to New Delhi and Kampala to Kathmandu, Zohran Mamdani has already become a household name. But the drama has only just begun, and as it reaches its climax in November, Mamdani will, at his worst, burn all of his fingers, and, at his best, he will have established an alternative view to look at culture, ideology and politics in the United States of America.

Cultural faultlines

The most important can Mamdani has opened must be the cultural one, exposing how America remains a cultural melting pot, where cultures are assimilated, rather than a cultural sal...