The Arab world regained some of its health in the winter of 2011, when its segment of its youth raised legitimate aspirations (Shutterstock)
There are many expressions that embody the reality of tension that characterizes the Arab world: the Arab disease as described by Moncef Marzouki, the Arab tragedy as described by Samir Kassir, the Arab malaise by Burhan Ghalioun, the Arab dilemma by Fouad Ajami, confinement by Hashem Saleh...etc. .
British journalist Jeremy Bowen adds the term "rot" in his book that includes his long experience in the Middle East, from Desert Storm to the Russian-Ukrainian war, and the negative repercussions of this era on the Arab world, through personal experience. The book bears the title: “The Making of the Modern Middle East,” published in 2022, and of course it would not have presented what Palestine is pregnant with.
However, he did not remove the Palestinian issue from his concerns, not because the Palestinian-Israeli conflict was not at the forefront of the media at the time, but rather it was completely buried, as the writer said in the book. The development of events did not belie Bowen's prophecy, as the Palestinian issue returned to the forefront, drenched in blood. The second conclusion, which is very significant, is that the flames in the street that ignited in the winter of 2011 and then went out can be ignited again, as the objective conditions that called on young people to leave for better conditions still exist, according to the knowledgeable journalist.
The Arab world, or the Middle East, then stands on a hot plate. A state of instability prevails in the Middle East, and this state is tantamount to rot, and all rot is contagious, because the major things in the Middle East are intertwined, including the distribution between Sunnis and Shiites, political stagnation, the tribal situation, and social tension. Is Bowen's second prophecy true after his first prophecy came true?
The Arab world regained some of its health in the winter of 2011, when its segment of its youth raised legitimate aspirations and asked sound questions in universal terms that sought freedom, justice, and dignity, and rose up against the monopoly of power and wealth, with the slogan “No to tyranny, no to corruption.”
In my humble assessment, the book remains one of the most important books that has weighed on the body of the Arab world, and identified its disease or medicine, with the help of a doctor’s stethoscope, not the claims of a quack, or the delusion of a cup-reader. Because he has experienced the affairs of the Arab world for more than thirty years, and has covered its major hotspots, from the Desert Storm war, Afghanistan, Lebanon in the summer of 2006, Syria since the outbreak of the revolution there, to the “Islamic State,” and even Yemen. In addition, he has an objective outlook, and we can even discern within the folds of the book his implicit sympathy with this world whose affairs he knew, knew its issues, got to know its rulers and those who influenced it, and from there stood on its medicines.
It is impossible to cover up the state of ill health that the Arab world, or to be precise the Middle East, is suffering from. One of the symptoms of the disease is that many things that could be going well are going wrong, and the second symptom, which should prompt one to think, is that the Middle East has not yet found a comfortable place in the modern world, as he put it, or in other words, it is A heavy guest in the modern world... He has everything to be effective and influential, including a geographical location, historical wealth, wealth, and a multiplicity of resources, but he is not influential. Because he complains about the state of subordination, or what Bowen quoted from journalist Samir Kassir, his elements are like pawns on a chessboard.
The curse of a horrific nightmare haunts the Arab world as it awakens after a period of deep slumber. The Arab world seemed promising at the end of the 1990s, with the hope of a succession of autocrats who were based on historical legitimacy and employed an implicit social contract, based on social support and refraining from delving into public affairs by monopolizing political action, but this tide that seemed strong in Algeria, Jordan and Yemen Morocco flourished after the events of September 11. The world has changed, the West's priorities have changed, and this has had a negative impact on the Arab world.
The Arab world regained some of its health in the winter of 2011, when its segment of its youth raised legitimate aspirations and asked sound questions in universal terms that sought freedom, justice, and dignity, and rose up against the monopoly of power and wealth, which carried the slogan “No to tyranny, no to corruption,” but the establishment of the “Islamic State.” “The tide was halted, and the region once again fell into the grip of an authoritarianism more severe than the authoritarianism against which the youth of 2011 rose up.
We cannot stop at merely observing this correlation between expansion and contraction, or awakening followed by a nightmare. We must go to the cause, or the brake that turns getting up into a nightmare.
Why does radicalism rise up to stop the party after every period of awakening, and scatter the grains of the contract after every effort to organize it? Is radicalism a cause or a consequence? According to Bowen’s view, radicalism is a result, not a cause, as it is a reckless reaction to an infected reality, and what is required is an intelligent reaction to a sick situation, because, as Bowen says: “Foreigners, or the intervention of the West, bear a heavy responsibility for everything that happened in The Middle East for many years, through unwanted interventions, including tyranny, selling weapons, and encouraging neighboring dictators.
All sins were overlooked given the status of the Arab world as a protective shield against the Soviets. The same applies to the distinguished relationship between the United States and Israel. Building close relations (with the West) without asking any questions allowed authoritarian regimes to flourish and prevented the emergence of real opposition. “...If corrupt rulers oppress their people, plunder their wealth, and steal their freedom, extremists can (always) attract followers.” In other words, the absence of freedom and the monopoly of revolutions is the fertile soil for radicalism. We should not stop at the symptom, which is radicalism, and we must go to the cause, which is confiscating peoples’ freedom, plundering their wealth, and stealing their dreams. I do not think that a reasonable, interested and objective reader would not share Bowen's conclusion.
In the conclusion to his book, Big Powers, Bowen advises, first to stop doing harm, and second, to work on making things better. Claiming to do better things before stopping doing harmful things is futile. According to the Bowen equation, it is not feasible for the United States to “provide humanitarian aid” in Gaza before it stops arming Israel.
Can the thinkers and leaders of the Arab world write the final chapter of the book in which the elements of the Arab world are not merely pawns on a chessboard? This is the stake in this new chapter that began with the “Al-Aqsa Flood.” The doors are open for the continuation of dependency and the placement of pawns on the chessboard, but the possibility of liberation also exists, if one takes into account that radicalism is a result and not a cause, and that the major powers must stop doing negative things, and they are free from seeking (or claiming) to Make things better.
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial position of Al Jazeera.