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SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT: THE GREATER MIDDLE EAST SERIES (IV)
Moving Beyond Mutual Refutation to What is Required
Hazem Saghiyeh
Hazem Saghiyeh is a writer, commentator, and columnist for the Arabic
newspaper al-Hayat in London, and author of books on Pan-Arabism and
Political Islam.
An old joke that has been translated into a number of languages talks about
two folk characters, a Turk and an Iranian, known for their extravagant
exaggeration of national bravado. According to the joke, the Turk tells the
Iranian that the Turkish Sultan Abdul-Hamid had started building a palace
twenty years before, and that a nail that fell from the builder's hand when
work started, is still on its way to the ground.
The Iranian responded that the Shah had planted a cabbage that grew and
expanded and pushed north towards Russia, then to Europe, crossed the
Atlantic to America, then to Japan and the rest of Asia. At this point, the
Turk made a hand gesture indicating that the Iranian was exaggerating, to
which the Iranian soon responded that the cabbage has reached Turkey, and
unless he let the nail reach the ground, he will stuff the cabbage into
Abdul-Hamid's stomach!
Current talk about "The Greater Middle East" reminds us of this joke, for we
do not need exceptional brainpower to realize that anyone who fails to
establish a little Palestine cannot possibly succeed in building a Great
Middle East. Furthermore, how can we believe that the current American
administration intends for Arabs to become "democratic" at a time when it
does not share the global will to cleanse the environment, rid the world of
landmines, establish an international criminal court, or accommodate
millions of poor African farmers because it insists on supporting its
agricultural monopolies?
How can it be so enthusiastic about democracy in Islamic countries when it
knows fully well that democracy will, undoubtedly, bring radical Islamists
to power?
The contradictions are endless. Peace between Egypt and Israel, though
lukewarm, has survived for over a quarter of a century without Egypt being a
model of democracy. In return, any empirically-oriented mind knows that it
is more practical to deconstruct the concept of democracy into its basic
components, such as to promote the rule of law, support the independence of
the judiciary, to empower civil society, support the middle class, and to
adopt these elements gradually, instead of the ready-made ideological recipe
called "democracy." But when it comes to terrorism, it becomes obvious that
the war in Iraq, as is proved daily, has become a hindrance in the war on
terror, providing Osama Bin Laden's followers and comrades a new land from
which to practice their criminal activities. Not to mention when it comes to
weapons of mass destruction, some of Washington's closest allies, in Israel,
India and Pakistan, are sitting cross-legged inside the front door of the
worrisome club.
There are other liars, as well. Reform-resistant Arab regimes have found,
once again, their excuses in Palestine. Although they pay no real attention
to Palestinians, they play to the tune of: "as long as Washington has not
provided them with a solution, we shall not adopt reform."
From Arab people’s circles, who feed on anti-Western popular mythology, the
answer came swiftly: Reform is rejected because it comes from the United
States. This gives meaning to a statement ascribed to the late Tunisian
president, Habib Bourguiba, during the sixties of the last century,
criticizing Arab behaviour by saying it resembles a man amputating his own
penis to spite his wife.
Yet we live in a suicidal era. Either everything is done our way, or not at
all. This is as much a suicidal logic as it is a totalitarian one, for one
may not indulge in solving any problem, be it educational or related to
women’s rights, or even religious-reform related, unless the problem of the
Ummah (nation) is resolved.
This mutual refutation, however, should not obscure certain facts.
Obviously, the United States wants the "Greater Middle East" to accomplish
certain initiatives of strategic benefit to it. Most likely, targeted
changes are much more realistic than "The Greater Middle East," and less
related to democracy. Regimes like that of Vladimir Putin in Russia, or Zain
al-Abidin Bin Ali of Tunisia that combine combating terrorism with a degree
of instrumental modernity, help in accomplishing the mission. The emerging
relationship with the Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi may fall within the same
category.
Yet the American voice was sufficiently loud to create innumerable
ramifications within the Arab body structure. Due to its frailty, this body
is incapable of absorbing any tremor, or even the possibility of one. George
Bush might not be like Napoleon Bonaparte – and he is not - but our Arab
regimes and societies are of the type established by Saddam Hussein, who,
only a year and some ago, was said to be one of the most powerful Arab
leaders. Yet in spite of that, he was overthrown rapidly, as we witnessed,
before being so humiliatingly captured in that hole.
We therefore set aside the much-talked-about Middle East, and aspire to one
of a different type. For within this promised bond, a quiet heredity of
nationalisms that proved, for the millionth time, its inability to repeat
the nineteenth century European model, may emerge. This specifically applies
to Arab nationalism, which has surrendered the last remnants of its spirit.
Muslims who are proud of the cultural dimension of their religion can only
welcome the expansion of this dimension through the Middle East formula. The
matter, however, transcends the cultural tone, and enters the realm of
resolving devastating conflicts and planning for economic development. It is
sufficient to mention that the mounting water crisis, which may evolve into
a future conflict, will not find a solution within a nation-state formula,
nor within nationalistic formulas dominated by rhetoric and zeal, for the
simple reason that the main rivers are not merely national wealth shared by
two nations, but rather represent Arab/non-Arab shared wealth. Irrigation
projects, investments in the water sector, and canal and dam construction
are also very costly projects that cry for cooperation by different states,
and fall in the same category.
Yet the more imminent and pressing issues are the ones related to national
and regional disputes. The emerging Kurdish problem in Syria reminds us once
more of the intricate links binding four or five states, in such a way that
makes it impossible to completely solve the problem in one country without a
concurrent solution in the others. Before Syria, the Turkish response to
political changes in Iraq, especially the post-Saddam Kurdish factor,
represented unmistakable proof of this interconnectedness. The same can be
said about the Shi'ite problem that could potentially become more
complicated, starting in Iraq, and expanding into the various corners of the
Gulf, where Arabs and Persians still disagree over its name.
The Palestinian-Israeli problem, and its repercussions throughout the
Palestinian Diaspora and neighbouring countries, including another Arab land
suffering from occupation in the Golan Heights, is not to be overlooked
here. Resolution of these problems cannot be attained unless all countries
in the region adopt it, and move toward dissolving the fearful elements
found in the pluralism of this region in its many components.
The presumption of a parallel process in resolving the many national and
nationalistic conflicts of the Middle East, within the framework of a
peaceful and open region, should, by definition, produce significant
economic impacts. Only then can the inflow of international capital create
investment and job opportunities in this otherwise stagnant region that
curses globalization much more than it suffers from it or enjoys it.
The bottom line is that a flexible formula, viewing the Middle East as an
economic, cultural and political whole, based on its sovereign
nation-states, may be a horizon worthy of pushing towards, in a manner that
defuses the alienation and repulsion embedded in the current policies of the
United States.
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