Arab Awakening and Islamic Revival: The Politics of Ideas in by Thomas Molnar

during the last decade, the political floor underneath the center East has shifted. Arab nationalism the political orthodoxy for many of this century has misplaced its grip at the mind's eye and allegiance of a brand new iteration. while, Islam as an ideology has unfold around the sector, and "Islamists" bid to seize the heart of politics. such a lot Western students and specialists as soon as hailed the redemptive energy of Arabism. Arab Awakening and Islamic Revival is a severe evaluate of the contradictions of Arab nationalism and Islamic fundamentalism, and the misrepresentation of either within the West.The first a part of the ebook argues that Arab nationalism--the so-called Arab awakening--bore inside it the seeds of its personal failure. Arabism as an idea drew upon international assets and assets. whilst it claimed to free up the Arabs from imperialism it deepened highbrow dependence upon the West's personal romanticism and radicalism. eventually, Arab nationalism turned a strength of oppression instead of liberation, and a replicate photo of the imperialism it defied. Kramer's essays jointly shape the single chronological telling and the at totally documented postmortem of Arabism. the second one a part of the ebook examines the same failings of Islamism, whose rules are Islamic reworkings of Western ideological radicalism. Its impression has been to provide new existence to outdated rationales for oppression, authoritarianism, and sectarian division.Arab Awakening and Islamic Revival offers another view of a century of heart japanese background. because the zone strikes fitfully previous ideology, Kramer's viewpoint is extra compelling than at any time within the past-in Western academe at the very least between many within the heart. This publication could be of curiosity to sociologists, political scientists, economists, and heart East specialists.