{"id":6293,"date":"2015-01-01T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2015-01-01T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.charming-bohr.160-238-31-172.plesk.page\/index.php\/2015\/01\/01\/experiments-with-empowerment\/"},"modified":"2015-01-01T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2015-01-01T00:00:00","slug":"experiments-with-empowerment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.charming-bohr.160-238-31-172.plesk.page\/index.php\/2015\/01\/01\/experiments-with-empowerment\/","title":{"rendered":"Experiments with Empowerment"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tFor those intrigued by the advance of freedom, even and perhaps especially the advance of religious liberty in the Middle East, Robin Wright\u2019s Dreams and
\n\tShadows: The Future of the Middle Eas<\/em>t is a major contender for your nightstand. It juxtaposes sweeping historical accounts of political, social, and
\n\treligious developments with insightful biographical portraits, producing a mosaic of the Middle East en route to its future.\n\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThis is a book about disparate experiments with empowerment in the world\u2019s most troubled region,\u201d Wright explains. While she makes no claims to being
\n\tcomprehensive, she rather scrupulously explores and elucidates, country by Middle Eastern country, \u201cthe emerging ideas and players that are changing the
\n\tpolitical environment in ways that will unfold for decades to come.\u201d\n\t<\/p>\n

\n\tTold as only one who had lived there for decades could, it is a story of faith and frustration, dreams and nightmares, liberty and love. Wright underscores
\n\tthe momentous struggle for peace in the Middle East and its quest for ever-elusive political and religious freedoms. The people of the Middle East
\n\tincreasingly understand that the right to believe requires the freedom to vote—and that the vitality of faith depends upon freedom from government coercion
\n\tin matters of faith.\n\t<\/p>\n

\n\tDemocracy is making incremental progress in the Middle East, but it has never been an easy achievement anywhere in the world. It took a war to free the
\n\tAmerican colonies from King George III. There is no reason to expect democracy (or, more accurately, self-determination) to have an easier road ahead in
\n\tthe Middle East. \u201cIn a region rife with vulnerable minorities and shifting demographics, opening up politics endangers deepening the problems it is meant
\n\tto solve,\u201d warns Wright. At least there has arisen a \u201crich new discourse on democracy and how to adapt it to their own cultures.\u201d\n\t<\/p>\n

\n\tThe stark contrast between the West and the Middle East often blinds us to the considerable diversity in the Middle East. For the \u201cMiddle East is not
\n\treally one place,\u201d opines Wright of this often misunderstood corner of the globe. \u201cThe region today is arguably more stereotyped than any other part of the
\n\tworld. But the peoples, histories, religions, political systems, and economies actually differ widely among countries, even within them.\u201d Standing astride
\n\ttwo continents, it is perhaps more varied than any other religio-cultural assemblage of peoples in the world.\n\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThe Middle East includes the tribal societies of the Arabian Peninsula, from where Islam and the Arabs originated. It includes the cosmopolitan cities of
\n\tnew Beirut and old Damascus. It includes Palestinians who have lived more than a half century in squalid refugee camps. . . . It includes the
\n\tdesert-dwelling Berbers and Bedouin nomads who roam with their camel-hair tents across the Sahara, the Sinai, and the vast expanses of Arabia. And it
\n\tincludes the Kurds, who are the world\u2019s largest minority without a state.\u201d\n\t<\/p>\n

\n\tThese facts incline one against one-size-fits-all solutions for the Middle East. What actions the West takes to support democracy may be perceived quite
\n\tdifferently by Shiite and Sunni—and will be received in yet another way by sophisticated urbanites in Istanbul or simple villagers in rural Afghanistan.\n\t<\/p>\n

\n\tWright reminds the reader that the Middle East is also a place of disparate economic circumstances. \u201cEconomically, the peoples of the Middle East also have
\n\tvastly different resources as tools for a transition. The region includes the earth\u2019s richest nations, like glitzy Qatar, the tiny thumb off Saudi Arabia\u2019s
\n\teastern coast that sits atop the world\u2019s largest field of natural gas and has a per capita income of $38,000,\u201d she writes. \u201cOn the other extreme is exotic
\n\tbut densely populated Yemen on Saudi Arabia\u2019s southern border, where the per capita income is a mere $500.\u201d\n\t<\/p>\n

\n\tGiven the recent upsurge in Somali piracy, one might speculate about a connection between poverty and lawlessness. Are affluent countries more secular and,
\n\ttherefore, less susceptible to religious extremism? To suppose material want is the virus leading to violence, or to infer a direct causal relationship
\n\tbetween poverty and terrorism, however, requires ignoring the affluence of the individual Saudi Arabian hijackers on that fateful morning of September 11,
\n\t2001.\n\t<\/p>\n

\n\tNot surprisingly, there are those in the Middle East who blame the Jews for adding to the volatile ethnic\/religious mix. It is not just the State of Israel
\n\t(ironically the youngest nation in the area but the oldest stable democracy there) that draws fire from radical Islam. Jewish communities anywhere can find
\n\tthemselves the target of criticism. Wright uncovers the little-known fact that the \u201clargest Jewish population in the Middle East outside of Israel is also
\n\tin Iran, which still has kosher butchers, Jewish schools, synagogues, and a first-rate hospital favored by many of the ayatollahs.\u201d Furthermore, \u201cIran\u2019s
\n\tparliament has five especially reserved (and proportionate) seats for Jews, Christians, and Zoroastrians.\u201d Formal acceptance and quasi accommodation of
\n\tJews amidst the milieu of an Islamic culture is an ever-present source of inspiration and tension.\n\t<\/p>\n

\n\tBecause this conflict traces back to Isaac and Ishmael (or at least the standard etymological narrative employs that story to explain the ancient feud
\n\tbetween long co-located Semitic peoples), it would be unrealistic to demand that a new American Administration solve the Arab-Israeli problem before the
\n\tnext American elections. The old proverb that \u201ctime heals all wounds\u201d (however truthful in the long term) has never proven to operate swiftly. \u201cIndeed,
\n\twhatever the rhetoric, the greatest tension in the region may not be between Arabs and Israelis,\u201d warns Wright. It is between Shiite and Sunni; Hamas,
\n\tFatah and Hezbollah; and the Islamic theocratic state versus secular Arab state.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe book\u2019s title—Dreams and Shadows—springs from a quotation of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, founding father of modern Turkey, successor to the Ottoman Empire.
\n\t\u201cNeither sentiment nor illusion must influence our policy. Away with dreams and shadows!\u201d Ataturk declaimed. \u201cThey have cost us dear in the past.\u201d\n\t<\/p>\n

\n\tThis book predicts not an imminent peace. The vision of a Middle East that overnight embraces American-style democracy is but a mirage. Wright is as versed
\n\tin realpolitik as any other journalist. With heartfelt disappointment she reports the increasing dismay on the part of Iraqis and Afghans regarding the
\n\tprotracted U.S. presence in the Middle East and the on-again-off-again violence of the self-styled resistance. While the frequency of suicide bombings is
\n\tsubject to ups and downs, the region\u2019s sentiment toward Americans has been one of steadily decreasing affection since the initial liberation of peoples
\n\tfrom the Taliban and Saddam Hussein. To say that America\u2019s popularity is not what it once was is to put it mildly.\n\t<\/p>\n

\n\tWhat the present American administration can accomplish in the Middle East in its remaining months turns in part on the actions of others. The president\u2019s
\n\tsupporters—whether in the media or Main Street U.S.A.—seem to have few doubts about what his diplomatic efforts can yield. Though her book was written
\n\tbefore President Obama won his election, one cannot help wondering whether any American administration can achieve what no past American administration has
\n\tbeen able heretofore to achieve.\n\t<\/p>\n

\n\tDemocracy doesn\u2019t necessarily follow a straight path to the rule of law and civil order as a nation state. The rise through democratic processes of Hamas
\n\tin Palestine and of Fatah in Gaza illustrates the \u201cconundrum in the Middle East . . . that free and fair elections may not initially produce a respectable
\n\tdemocracy. After decades of autocratic rule, the political spectrum has become so skewed that the choices, and winners, may not all be peace-loving or
\n\ttolerant moderates.\u201d\n\t<\/p>\n

\n\tElections not once but twice made Mahmoud Ahmadinejad the leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran. His vocal disdain for the West, his saber rattling, and
\n\tnuclear power dabbling have likely made more complicated an already-problematic geopolitical situation. His successor is more pragmatic and Iran and the
\n\tU.S. now have more reason to cooperate against the rise of ISIS, but suspicions remain.\n\t<\/p>\n

\n\tWhile \u201cthe United States had originally calculated that ousting the Middle East\u2019s most notorious dictator [Saddam Hussein] would shake arrogant regimes and
\n\tpassive populations out of their political lethargy,\u201d that has not come to pass. Wright posits that U.S. government officials assumed increased civil
\n\tliberties, and free elections after Saddam\u2019s demise, would empower reformers in their debate with theocrats. Many have argued that the \u201cmilitary
\n\tadventurism\u201d of the United States has only emboldened religious fanatics.\n\t<\/p>\n

\n\tSurely an American-style democracy will never do in the Middle East. Wright is neither naive nor jaded. She harbors no Leibnizian \u201cbest of all possible
\n\tworlds\u201d delusion about the inevitability of peace and freedom—but neither are peace and freedom in the Middle East mere pipe dreams for her. Democracy is
\n\tnot only for the West. It is not a divine donation to the countries of Western Europe or North America.\n\t<\/p>\n

\n\tTurkey, despite daunting odds, has navigated its way toward a culturally appropriate and relatively stable governing democratic state. It was not built
\n\tovernight—but it was built. It required a long time and a lot of effort. And while one example does not establish a trend among Muslim nations, it is a
\n\tbeginning. There is good reason to suppose that the Muslims of neighboring countries can achieve the same.\n\t<\/p>\n

\n\tDemocracy is on the march in the Muslim Middle East, however sluggish and attended by bumps, detours, and occasional culs-de-sac. But impasses need not be
\n\tpermanent. People throughout history have opted for freedom rather than settle for tyranny.\n\t<\/p>\n

\n\tNo doubt the challenges are daunting, the probabilities tilt against success, and the situation with ISIS shows extra danger. It is also questionable
\n\twhether the present American administration can live up to the stratospheric expectations set by the 2008 campaign.\n\t<\/p>\n

\n\tNevertheless it is with measured optimism that Wright weaves her narrative. Hope springs eternal, and even a desert has its springs and oases. Despite
\n\tbeing a journalist who writes to titillate and meet deadlines, she has demonstrated the capacity to take the long view—to look further than the immediate
\n\tmise-en-sc\u00e8ne of armed gunmen, IEDs, ISIL, and Al Jazeera news reports—to the distant horizon. She scouts beyond the pressing news cycle and the next
\n\tpolitical election. Surveying the past, she recalls that in the long history of Islam in the Middle East, there were times during which peoples of
\n\tdiffering faiths lived in a harmony of their own making. Turning to the future, she sees a people who have conquered their deserts, can conquer their worst
\n\tfears, and can realize their dreams for liberty and peace—the operative term being \u201ctheir<\/em>.\u201d\n\t<\/p>\n

\n\tFor, as Wright puts it, \u201cmost inspiring is not the dreams the outside world has for the people of the Middle East. It is instead the aspirations and goals
\n\tthey have genuinely set for themselves.\u201d\n\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For those intrigued by the advance of freedom, even and perhaps especially the advance of religious liberty in the Middle East, Robin Wright\u2019s Dreams and Shadows: The Future of the Middle East is a major contender for your nightstand. It juxtaposes sweeping historical accounts of political, social, and religious developments with insightful biographical portraits, producing<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[304],"tags":[136],"class_list":["post-6293","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-january-february-2015","tag-january-february-2015"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.charming-bohr.160-238-31-172.plesk.page\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6293","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.charming-bohr.160-238-31-172.plesk.page\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.charming-bohr.160-238-31-172.plesk.page\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.charming-bohr.160-238-31-172.plesk.page\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.charming-bohr.160-238-31-172.plesk.page\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6293"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.charming-bohr.160-238-31-172.plesk.page\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6293\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.charming-bohr.160-238-31-172.plesk.page\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6293"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.charming-bohr.160-238-31-172.plesk.page\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6293"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.charming-bohr.160-238-31-172.plesk.page\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6293"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}