Following the collapse of the Ottoman Empire and the end of Turkish domination of many parts of the Arab World, European domination moved in to replace it to be followed, after World War II, by American domination.
During the European/Mandate/colonial period, the region was deprived of the opportunity of introducing necessary legal, social, economic and administrative reforms. These reforms were needed to prepare and equip society to cope with a quickly changing global industrial environment. What the Ottomans left was largely outdated. Introducing some superficial and crude adaptations of Western standards, which evolved during the European period, produced a mixture of political and social values and administrative standards. None of these was compatible with the minimum needed to face a dynamic and rapidly changing world. Europe’s domination took the form of direct physical occupation and administration of the region. It was this era that was largely responsible for the erratic evolution and in many cases, stagnant Arab political, social and administrative systems.
American influence gradually moved in to replace the European and was largely non-occupational in the physical sense, although not too different in most other aspects of domination. In America’s global strategy the Arab region and its people have been dealt with as a “sphere of influence” and their interests were subordinated to the needs of America’s global political and military strategy.
To be fair, the entry of the United States, following the end of World War II did not significantly hamper progress of Arab movements for independence or progress. In the emergent conditions of a new global balance of power, the Arabs moved forward slowly, sometimes with setbacks, toward control of their own destiny. Seen in historical perspective, Arab progress toward political independence and economic prosperity were not insignificant. Evidence of some movement toward modernization of society, especially in the education and administration fields was clearly seen.
The calamity of the Arab-Israeli war of 1967 was a turning point marking America’s absolute and undisguised support for Israel against the Arabs. Then there was Israel’s invasion of Lebanon, the ruthless destruction in Beirut and the retention by Israel of a large Lebanese territory with tacit American approval. American tacit approval also covered Israel’s occupation of the West bank (captured from Jordan) and the Golan Heights (from Syria), both of which now complete 37 years. In spite of all these crises and the Iraqi-Iranian war (eight years), Arabs’ slow but forward movement, with varying degrees of progress, toward modernization continued. Not until the Iraqi occupation of Kuwait did a serious setback occur. Much of what had been achieved in the political, economic and even military arenas has severely regressed. Repercussions of that eruption caused immeasurable retreat on all fronts. Values and standards, political and social balance all fell victims to disruptive forces represented by external pressures and local dogmas.
These forces managed to infiltrate the political order through gaps created during and following the crisis. A war was waged to liberate Kuwait and militarily contain Iraq. As the military containment and economic sanctions continue to fall short of a basic solution so does the sense of political, economic and military vulnerability in the region.
Arab attitudes are contaminated by this repulsive inheritance and it is the very element, which influences Arab perception of relations with the United States. Wisdom of the United States having carried the traditional policies of Europe in the region will remain forever subject to debate. But the inescapable conclusion is that (even among some in the West) it is now obsolete and has no relevance to the prevailing state of affairs. We are reading for and listening to Arab journalists and analysts in the media nowadays pointing to new voices among Western intelligentsia, in some government circles and even in the US Congress.
These voices are calling for the examination of the reasons behind the tragic events of Sept. 11. Some of these voices naively express surprise at this “hatred” toward America, which seem to echo in many parts of the Arab/Muslim worlds. Arab thinkers, too, seem to detect the emergence of new forces in the US prepared to reconsider America’s current policies toward the Arab and Muslim worlds and possibly the entire Third World. They see an opportunity for the two sides to forge new relations between them.
In its turn Arab intelligentsia is appealing to leaders of public opinion and decision makers in both the Arab and Western (especially the American) worlds to speak loud and to assume an active role. This effort should aim at the initiation of a process the purpose of which is to develop these relations, perhaps through dialogues, between the two sides. Arab intelligentsia is assuming that their counterparts in the US and Europe share the following assumptions:
— Correct relations should be based on real national interests of both sides;
— Current relations are not consistent with the nature and needs of these interests;
— Current relations are not consistent with the present state of development in the Arab and Muslim worlds or the aspirations of the people in these regions;
— Current relations are certainly not conducive to globalization, which is vehemently pursued by the industrialized world.
From Arab intelligentsia’s perspective it appears that the ball is in the court of the Western intelligentsia and Western officialdom. It is seen that the Arab side, in its majority, was and still is open to the development of relations with the West to advanced and elevated stages. But this is predicated, from Arab/Muslim point of view, on the abandonment, by the West, of attitudes of superiority and dictation in dealing with the regions’ governments and people.
Furthermore, the West must renounce the method of measuring nations’ civilization by the simplistic material yardstick of technology and industrialization. The West must frankly admit that civilizations on our globe have been historically the result of interaction of all mankind’s civilizations. The civilization we witness today is nothing but the extension of the one which preceded it.
Each civilization on our globe played its role in history for the advancement and prosperity of man. The special historical value of Arab/Muslim civilization, in addition to the advancement of its people, is that it was the very civilization, which handed the torch to the Western world, which carried it forward and continues to carry it successfully till this day.
To forge new relations between the Western and Arab/Muslim worlds it is imperative that governments and intelligentsia, on both sides, work toward solving the following problems: — The Western World must abandon the traditional methods of dealing with the Arab/Muslim worlds;
— The correction in the Western and particularly American mind of the distorted image of the Arabs, which has been drawn by the Zionist movement and its supporters. This distortion was designed to serve Zionism’s special interest in the effort to create a Jewish homeland in Palestine and assign to it the role of the dominant power in the region;
— The commonalty of Western and Zionist interests in the region, if they ever truly existed, in a particular stage in history, is non-existent anymore. Therefore, the West must renounce the claim of common interests with Zionism if it is to deal even-handedly with the Arab/Muslim worlds. It follows that the West must remove all evidence of blind political support to Israel and the excessive financial and military aid provided for it. Those who desired the creation of the State of Israel have achieved their objective. The forced creation of Israel caused, over the past fifty years, immeasurable human suffering among an entire innocent population, namely the Palestinians and many of their Arab brethren. The West should now leave Israel to assume its real size in the region and behave accordingly;
— The Arab/Muslim worlds should be comforted without a shadow of a doubt about America’s new conviction and intentions; that the old policies toward the region are seen to be out of tune with the times and are now obsolete; that the establishment of new policies based on real interests are now a strategic objective; that the objective now is to establish new relations between two equal parties in a real and stable long- term partnership. There is evidence that Europe has already made significant advances on these fronts. The positive role of Europe in the current crisis in the Arab-Israeli peace process is but one clear indication. There are other European efforts, which predate the Sept. 11 crisis. Europe’s serious decision to change the nature of its relations with the region is evident in its effort to forge genuine economic partnerships with countries in the region;
— In its turn the Arab/Muslim side represented by governments and intelligentsia should initiate the necessary process for the correction of attitudes toward and perception of the West among their population. This efforts should focus on the correction, at local societal levels, of educational, cultural and informational representation of Western civilization. One of the main objectives of this effort would be to instill in the minds of Arabs and Muslims perception of the separation between Christianity and Western civilization. The process should also include encouragement of positive attitudes toward economic partnerships with North America. Example of the Arab-European cultural and economic dialogues, which are currently in progress, should be immensely helpful;
— The two sides working together should build new bridges for new cultural ties. Both should fight cultural prejudice and cultural bigotry. They must act and act quickly to discredit emerging notions such as the “conflict of civilizations” before they take root and further aggravate an already bad state of affair. When liberalism flourished in the West, the fight against racial and ethnic discrimination was carried out on many fronts. In that war, legislative, educational, informational as well as punishments and rewards were used to induce social change. The war was largely won. The result was the emergence of ethnic and racial tolerance. This in turn led to dramatic, but positive changes in the social, economic as well as political structures;
— We are in the middle of a global crisis associated with the events in New York/ Washington and Afghanistan. The spilling of those tragic disturbances to the Middle East have blurred visions and forced the loss of focus on the real issues. Once stability is re-established and, if convinced of the soundness and desirability of change, leadership in government and intelligentsia, on both sides, should engage each other in a dialogue. The objective would be to identify the REAL interests and charter a clear course for a long-term partnership. Ideally, this should be timed to coincide with the implementation, on the ground, of the recently announced American initiative for the Middle East. America, for the first time in recent history, outlined a clear “vision” of and serious intent in solving the Israeli-Palestinian problem. It focuses on the central issues of the creation of a Palestinian state. The return of Syrian and Lebanese territories still occupied by Israel would automatically follow and would be easier to deal with. The completion of this process will mark a new and positive turning point in Arab and Muslim relations with America and will usher a new era of peace and stability in the region.
