In the first part of his contribution, Tihanov explores various meanings of the word 'cosmopolitanism' and attempt to attain finer granularity by identifying two different strands within what has long been taken to be a unitary discourse. In the second part, the author discuss the complex relationship (often also divergence) between the two types of cosmopolitanism – political and cultural – that Tihanov identifies in the introduction. He does so by analysing a set of examples drawn from the work of European Jewish exiles who exemplify the struggles of cosmopolitans left without a polis as they seek to reimagine and recreate that vanished polis, often forced to adopt various form of internationalism in the absence of viable cosmopolitan alternatives. What is at stake throughout the analysis is a deeper understanding of cosmopolitanism, both as a desideratum but also as a discourse that harbours inner contradictions, and also an attempt to revisit the way we think about how the experience of exile relates to cosmopolitan attitudes and practices.