INTELLECTUALS IN THE MIDDLE EAST

Qantara has an overview of reactions by Arab intellectuals to the Bush administration's policies in the region, written by Amr Hamzawy, a professor at the Free University in Berlin and guest professor this year in Cairo. Here are the main conclusions that Hamzawy comes to:

Three main points can be gleaned from the remarks made by reform-oriented intellectuals. Firstly, they are all trying to position themselves with regard to a powerful global discourse about their region. Whether they agree with the Americans or qualify their proposals, the majority are convinced that the key ideas highlighted by the Americans are essentially correct.

Secondly, unlike earlier Arab debates, the emphasis on the democratic ideals of the USA and/or the West now constitutes an important pillar of reformist thought. Despite some critical remarks on the West’s Middle East policy, the reformers are beginning to realise that the countries in question are pluralist nations whose foreign policy actions are continually being questioned and monitored by state and civic control bodies. The Arab public’s previously undifferentiated image of western societies as a homogenous entity would appear to be crumbling in places.

Thirdly, there is a clear renunciation of the previously widespread belief in the nation state as the motor of social modernisation. Reform-oriented intellectuals place much less trust in the creation of liberal state structures than in democratisation and transformation projects initiated by civic society. Hopes are now pinned on human rights organisations, women’s movements and youth associations.

On the whole, the overview is cautiously hopeful: to the extent that American political and economic reform efforts represent a serious long-term commitment on the part of the U.S., Hamzawy claims that they are getting a hearing because they resonate with a felt need among reformist elements and their growing ranks of followers. Hamzawy actually has some very kind words for the Bush administration's long-term development and engagement plans -- although the strong implication of Hamzawy's argument is that hawkish policies will be counterproductive.

Qantara has a free e-mail newsletter (in English, German and Arabic) that I recommend. It's mostly focused on German-islamic dialogue, but as Hamzawy's essay shows, their essays are often intended to have a broader focus.