Arab Culture Slowly Opens

I could probably be accused of a bit of myopia when it comes to reading Arab News. The stories that I tend to share on the blog are the stories that are, generally, moderate and fairly friendly to the United States. The biggest reason for this is that I am an optimist--even an idealist and a romantic. I believe and want to believe the best of people. I focus on the positive because that is what I want to hold onto.

There is another reason, though. Where we talk of the Arab world, we sometimes seem to believe that Arab culture is a monolith. We generalize and we fail to see the dissent that grows in those countries. What I see, in what is possibly an overoptimistic way, is a growth in those cultures that could result in an Arab version of democracy and freedom; not a completely Westernized culture, but a more open, moderate, and liberal Islamic culture.

Where we see this budding openness and questioning, we need to nurture and acknowledge the presence. While I do believe that our current military endeavors are more of a culture war than we like to openly admit, I don't think that the cultures in conflict are necessarily as simple as Islam in opposition to the West.

What I think we're really seeing is a war between the cultures of strict authoritarian governments against more liberal governments. In one corner is not Islam, but theocracy with little regard for openness, diversity, and personal freedom. In the other corner is democracy based on embracing of diversity, internal criticism, and a desire to balance personal freedoms against the needs of society.

In the long run, neither culture can tolerate the existence of the other. If it were possible to build a wall separating the two completely, then we would be fine. But culture seeps across borders in the forms of immigrants, entertainment, commerce, and terrorism. Unfortunately for the tyrants, history doesn't abide authoritarian governments over the long haul. Citizens who see the freedoms and prosperity enjoyed by others find themselves wanting the same thing.

Arab culture is undergoing a change because the citizens are slowly realizing the shortcomings of their own governments. In commerce and in personal rights, they are realizing that religious theocracies don't and can't compete with democracies. This doesn't mean that they've fully reconciled their needs to be observant Muslims, their dislike of what they see as the seedier parts of Western cultures, and their desire to have many of the benefits of Western society. What it does mean is that many are coming to the conclusion that continuing business as usual is simply a way to work quickly for failure.

Western diplomacy should be strong in the face of this. That is, urging changes, rewarding reform, and looking for opportunities to encourage dissent in Arab media. Efforts can't stop there, though, in the face of military threats. Those countries that harbor, fund, and train terrorists are our sworn enemies; those that refuse to help simply shelter those enemies.

Where change cannot be brought about peacefully, our own security needs require that we allow for the option of military force. Howard Dean is right: force is the final option. Fortunately, our American presidents exercised every other option before being forced to take action; the world is a safer place for our show of strength. The world will be a better place when freedom spreads through the Middle East.

One person who seems to understand this, and I have referenced him before, is Dr. Mohammad T. Al-Rasheed of the Arab News. His article from yesterday shows that he continues to be a voice of intelligent dissent in the Arab media--and a voice that, if not always supportive of America, is supportive of those kinds of reforms that will benefit not only Arab nations, but the world as a whole.

The jubilation in Baghdad put the Arab media to shame. America, for this brief moment at least if not for longer, is a liberator and not an occupier. I can’t help being smug, since what I saw gave me back some confidence in the possibility of justice in this world. I had almost lost hope. It took George Bush to give me that back. I don’t agree with him on many things, and while many Americans share my stand, I’ll give the man his due. He will go down in Arab history as the liberator of Baghdad, even if the whole mission in Iraq comes to nothing more than this.

On a more sober note, the reality we have to face is the fact that it took Americans to relieve Baghdad of its dictator. Arab impotence recorded a new low. I might sound naive but I would like to ask where the “freedom fighters”, “the resistance”, “the strugglers for the freedom of Iraq” were when that man ran amok. Having delivered Saddam, the Americans will have to deliver Iraq. Shouldn’t we now be wise enough to give them at least a chance, if not a real helping hand?

The fact that this level of self-criticism is starting to spread through the Middle East is a positive that cannot be ignored. One of the things that has set Western culture apart is the constant self-criticism that has lead to an ongoing effort to address our own short-comings. Without this inward looking, what would our record on human rights be? Make no mistake, we've seen horrible things done in the name of our country, we've seen people treated as animals, and we have much that shouldn't fill us with pride. But through our relentless questioning, we continually evolve our political systems and cultural standards to address what we come to realize are our sins.

Arab culture seems, in many ways, to move slowly. But we may be seeing that movement reaching out to embrace a world view more similar to ours. That reaching and questioning is what gives me hope.

Read the story.

Posted by zombyboy at December 18, 2003 10:31 AM | TrackBack