The Arab World's Travails: History's Burden
by Hilal Khashan
Middle East Quarterly
March 1998, pp. 41-48
Middle East Quarterly
March 1998, pp. 41-48
Hilal Khashan teaches political science at the American University of Beirut.
For two centuries, Arabs have attempted to stem their retreat vis-à-vis the West and create the conditions for their renaissance (nahda). Coming into direct and sustained contact with the vastly superior power of Western Europe, their societies underwent significant changes during this period in the hope of catching up without losing their cultural identity or religious beliefs. An atmosphere of intense intellectual debate developed. Religious reformers sought to make Islam compatible with the requirements of modernity, and so to revitalize it. Pan-Arabists aimed at introducing elements of Western secularism in their political discourse and enfranchising Arab Christians. Others had alternate schemes.
These many efforts did not succeed, however; Arabs not only failed to catch up with the West but they did not even modernize. A survey of the Arab countries during the past decade finds that politically the regimes are significantly more repressive than in the past, with an increase in nepotism, corruption, human rights abuse, and general unaccountability. Economically, standards of living are on a steep decline in most Arab countries, including even the oil-producing states.1
What caused this failure? What are its symptoms?
For two centuries, Arabs have attempted to stem their retreat vis-à-vis the West and create the conditions for their renaissance (nahda). Coming into direct and sustained contact with the vastly superior power of Western Europe, their societies underwent significant changes during this period in the hope of catching up without losing their cultural identity or religious beliefs. An atmosphere of intense intellectual debate developed. Religious reformers sought to make Islam compatible with the requirements of modernity, and so to revitalize it. Pan-Arabists aimed at introducing elements of Western secularism in their political discourse and enfranchising Arab Christians. Others had alternate schemes.
These many efforts did not succeed, however; Arabs not only failed to catch up with the West but they did not even modernize. A survey of the Arab countries during the past decade finds that politically the regimes are significantly more repressive than in the past, with an increase in nepotism, corruption, human rights abuse, and general unaccountability. Economically, standards of living are on a steep decline in most Arab countries, including even the oil-producing states.1
What caused this failure? What are its symptoms?
