A year after the publication of the entertaining and well researched “Popular Culture in the Arab World,” Andrew Hammond has come up with another engaging title: “What the Arabs Think of America”. The author strongly dispels the notion that after Sept. 11 the Arab world — and especially Muslims — hates America. This book tries to show there is hardly any connection between the way Arabs feel toward American policies and American culture.
Anyone traveling through the Middle East is bound to notice signs of American consumerism, a lifestyle embraced by a large majority of Arab youth. According to the UN Arab Human Development Reports, about 38% of the population of Arab League member states are minors. Nowhere is this more visible than on Arab TV screens where western entertainment appeals to youth. Free-to-air satellite channels offer around the clock US sitcoms, reality TV, chat shows and movies. Not everyone is happy with this mono-cultural choice. Media analyst Jihad Fakhreddine regrets the decision to buy ready-made foreign programs instead of financing the production of entertainment programs in Arabic: “It shows the total bankruptcy of the Arab entertainment industry” he says and other experts indicate that the public watches light shows to forget the region’s political and socio-economic problems.
Arab music has also witnessed huge changes. Classical singers are now clearly dominated by an ever growing group of pop music singers whose videos are shown non-stop on numerous music channels such as Rotana, Melody and Mazzika. Andrew Hammond, who shows once again his thorough understanding of the Arab world, notes the singular role played by Lebanon — “a clearing house where foreign influences are filtered and repackaged for an Arab audience.”
Some intellectuals deplore the lack of Arab identity while others fear western pop culture will nurture a generation of youth imbued with liberalism. On the other hand, the Arab media revolution of the 1990s has instilled in viewers a greater awareness of their Arab identity. It has also encouraged debates and self-examinations which, according to Hammond, have undoubtedly empowered Arab societies and increased their influence in relation to their respective governments.
Arab public opinion however remains fickle at the least. It might be easy to name political Islam, Arab nationalism and liberal democracy as the main political trends rocking the Arab world today but it is far more difficult to assess the political aspirations of the social classes, especially the middle class.
This book also attempts to explain what Arabs think of America and of its policies regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the situation in Iraq. The author also analyzes Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Sudan’s relationship with the United States. It is generally felt that the US is applying the divide-to-rule tactic in Iraq and with Muslims. This became blatantly obvious in 2003 when the US allowed the Shiite majority to rule Iraq, a radical departure from their political strategy during the first Gulf War when fearing that Shiites would take over Iraq, Saddam’s army crushed a rebellion that Americans had previously encouraged. Under the influence of Shiite Islamists, Iraq is moving closer to Iran and away from the Arab world.
After 9/11 the US presumed that enforcing democratic change was the solution. This has now been proved a false assumption. “The war in Iraq became a lightning rod for Arabs disillusioned with their own governments over a whole range of social, economic and political troubles. The invasion and occupation of Iraq captures the imagination of millions as a sign of the disregard with which the United States viewed Arabs and Muslims, their culture, their history and their passions,” says Hammond
America’s fight against terrorism, a war in disguise against religious totalitarianism, has not achieved the results expected in the first place. Muslim Brothers in Egypt have benefited from the Iraq war and the Sunnis have witnessed the strengthening of the Shiites in a crescent flowing from Iran to the south of Lebanon.
In his in-depth analysis of the situation in Saudi Arabia, Andrew Hammond highlights the current leadership role played by the Kingdom: “Saudi Arabia has been a powerful player in Arab and Islamic politics but its influence has been ‘moderate’ and ‘peaceful’, in western political terms. As a regional leader, Saudi Arabia over the last generation continued not from the point where Nasser left off, but from the tradition of the Baghdad Pact led by Hashemite Iraq. Most Arab states have come to believe this is the more prudent path.”
In 1958, the former Iraqi Prime Minister was murdered for his pro-Western ideas yet he sharply analyzed Nasser’s failure to realize that Russia was incapable of defending the Arabs if they made an enemy of the West. Sadat’s alliance with America dealt a deadly blow to any pan-Arab aspirations to disturb the US order in the Middle East. However, Egypt is witnessing a growing gap between the government and society: “Shackled by its US alliance, Egypt remains deeply troubled and ill-at-ease with itself,” says Hammond.
Arabic and Islam have been great unifying factors for post-independence governments in Sudan yet the massacre of non Arab Muslims is taking place with the complacent silence of the Arab world. This reminds us of the massacre of Iraqi Kurds under Saddam Hussein which the Arab world also accepted without a word. Yet, despite the contradictions, Andrew Hammond, in his concluding remarks, recognizes the resilient nature of Arab-Islamic culture and its inherent ability to resist anyone who violates the integrity of the whole.