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28 January 2010By Patrick Seale
British journalist Brian Whitaker has written a
provocative and disturbing book about the Middle East
. His title is the one I have put at the head of this
article. His book is not kind to the Arabs, since it
exposes the profound contradictions and weaknesses in
their society. But it should, nevertheless, be
translated into Arabic as a matter of urgency and be
required reading by Arab elites from the Atlantic to
the Gulf.
His aim, he says, is to stimulate debate. If the Arab
world is to catch up with the rest of the developed
world, it would do well to ponder Whitaker's
conclusions and heed his recommendations.
Whitaker has traveled widely in Arab countries and was
Middle East editor of the Guardian newspaper for seven
years. He evidently knows the region intimately. His
strength, in researching this book, is that he has not
restricted himself, as most journalists do, to seeking
the views of political leaders and government
officials, but has instead moved outside the strictly
political sphere to interview a great many thinkers,
academics, students, opinion-formers, bloggers, and
ordinary people in many countries across the region.
He has looked beyond Arab regimes to society as a
whole. That is the originality of his book.
So, in a word, what does he say is wrong with the
Middle East ? In chapter after chapter, he dissects
the "stultifying atmosphere where change, innovation,
creativity, critical thinking, questioning,
problem-solving… are all discouraged. " And that is
not the end of it. To this list he adds "systematic
denial of rights that impinge on the lives of
millions: discrimination based on ethnicity, religion,
gender, sexuality or family background; inequality of
opportunity, impenetrable bureaucracies, arbitrary
application of the law; and the lack of transparency
in government."
Whitaker's first powerful chapter deals with the
failure of education in the Arab world -- which he
says is central to the region's problems. If change is
to be meaningful, he declares, it must begin in
people's heads. He quotes the 2004 Arab Human
Development Report in saying that teaching methods in
the Arab world -- especially rote learning -- "do not
permit free dialogue and active, exploratory learning
and consequently do not open the doors to freedom of
thought and criticism." On the contrary, "the
curricula taught in Arab countries seem to encourage
submission, obedience, subordination and compliance..
"
The result is a "knowledge deficit," hampering the
development of a well-educated, technically skilled
workforce.
Whitaker's recommendation is that "Arab countries need
to reform their educational systems and prepare
themselves for the future." But, he adds
pessimistically, "the high value placed on conformity
in Arab societies is suffocating change." His
controversial conclusion is that "the Arab countries
cannot develop knowledge-based societies without
radical social and political change."
Another of Whitaker's targets is asabiyya --
solidarity between members of a family, clan or tribe.
Such solidarity can provide security and protection
for individuals but the reverse of the coin is that
(in the words of the Arab Human Development Report) it
"implants submission, parasitic dependence and
compliance…"
Whitaker argues that the obsession with kinship in the
Arab world undermines the principles of meritocracy
and equality of opportunity. Nepotism hampers economic
development and places Arab countries at a
disadvantage in relation to those parts of the world
where such practices are less prevalent.
His conclusion is that "Arabs cannot emerge into a new
era of freedom, citizenship and good governance while
their society continues to be dominated by the
obligations of kinship, whether at a family or tribal
level…" This, he affirms, is the central challenge the
Arabs face today.
Another of Whitaker's provocative chapters deals with
the relationship between citizens and their
governments. The typical Arab regime, he declares, is
both authoritarian and autocratic -- authoritarian
because it demands obedience and autocratic because
power is highly centralized and concentrated around
the head of state.
He acknowledges that there has been much talk of
reform and modernization in Arab countries to keep
pace with the rapid world changes, but he remarks
gloomily that "actual reform, as opposed to mere talk
of it, has been far more limited… Much of what passes
for reform is just window-dressing for the sake of
international respectability. "
One of Whitaker's most controversial chapters is
entitled "The politics of God," and deals with the
tide of religious fervor that has swept across the
Middle East during the last thirty or forty years.
Religion, he argues, is one response to what has
become known as the "Arab malaise." For millions of
believers, religion provides a comfort zone of
certainty and hope in a world of doubt and despair.
He quotes his sources as suggesting that the lurch
towards religion began with the Arabs overwhelming
defeat at the hands of Israel in 1967. But further
impetus to the trend was given by the success of the
mujahideen in driving out Soviet forces from
Afghanistan , and by the success of Hezbollah in
driving Israel out of Lebanon in 2000 after 22 years
of occupation. The idea took root that military
success was achievable when inspired by religion.
Religion, Whitaker notes, provides a sense of
identity, of belonging and of solidarity in the face
of threats from outside. But he warns that treating
religion as a badge of identity can lead to a
heightened emphasis on its outward, physical aspects
at the expense of spirituality and ethics.
Moreover, as the religious tide swept across the
Middle East , more extreme versions of Islam gained in
prominence, more rigid in their interpretations of
scripture and less tolerant of alternative views. This
has sometimes bred growing intolerance, and even acts
of violence like the occasion when, in 1994, the
82-year old Egyptian man of letters, Naguib Mahfouz,
was stabbed in the neck outside his house. He
survived, but his right arm was partly paralyzed.
Equal rights, Whitaker argues, cannot exist without
freedom of religion. In the Arab countries, this is
probably the biggest single obstacle to positive
change. In his view, freedom of religion requires a
state which is religiously neutral. Separation of
religion and state is therefore essential, he
believes, to any serious agenda for reform.
Whitaker's book contains a lively discussion of
corruption and illegal commissions in Arab society, as
well as the phenomenon of wasta, that is to say the
use of connections, influence or favoritism. There is
also a long and well-informed section on the Arabic
media, which is too rich to be summarized in a line or
two.
Whitaker wants the Arabs to break free from a culture
of dependence and helplessness and for westerners, in
turn, to break free from their history of colonial
rule and military intervention, so that both sides can
set their relationship on a productive footing of
inter-dependence.
This book will anger some and excite others. It is one
of the most ambitious attempts in recent years by a
western writer to analyze what is really wrong with
the Middle East .
Patrick Seale is a leading British writer on the
Middle East, and the author of The Struggle for Syria
; also, Asad of Syria: The Struggle for the Middle
East ; and Abu Nidal: A Gun for Hire.
©
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