Related Topics

• Middle East politics

Middle East Quarterly

• Early Zionists and Arabs
  by Judea Pearl
• Jail for Iranian Journalists
  by Arash Sigarchi

Get Involved with the MEF

• Campus Activities
• Donations
• Employment & Internships

Articles by MEF Staff

• Syria Can't Be Flipped
  by Michael Rubin
• The Islamist Role in the 2008 Canadian Elections
  by Raheel Raza

MEF Wires

• Jihad on Trial
  by Andrew C. McCarthy
• The Secret War With Iran
  by Ronen Bergman

Press Releases

• Irfan Yusuf Apologizes Again to Daniel Pipes
  October 1
• Irfan Yusuf Apologizes to Daniel Pipes
  September 17

Most Viewed Articles

1. Assessing English Translations of the Qur'an
2. Review of The Jewel of Medina
3. Beheading in the Name of Islam
4. Prince Charles of Arabia
5. The Islamist Role in the 2008 Canadian Elections

Most Mailed Articles

1. Ending America's Dependence on Middle East Oil
2. Review of The Jewel of Medina
3. Assessing English Translations of the Qur'an
4. Jihad on Trial
5. Obama's Middle East Studies Mentors

MARCH 1995 • VOLUME II: NUMBER 1

Subscribe   |    Archive   |    Submit Manuscript   |    Board of Editors   |    Contact Editor   |

Bitter Legacy: Ideology and Politics in the Arab World

by Paul Salem
Syracuse, N.Y: Syracuse University Press, 1994. 302 pp. $39.95 (cloth), $17.95 (paper).

Reviewed by Daniel Pipes

Middle East Quarterly
March 1995

Print

Send

RSS

A quarter-century after Albert Hourani's much-acclaimed Arabic Thought in the Liberal Age, Salem has published a successor volume both sadder and wiser. As his title suggests, Salem finds that the Arabs suffered acutely from the impact of ideology (which he defines as "a system of highly integrated ideas, principles, and aims that are related to sociopolitical action").

Salem divides his subject matter into four main trends: Arab nationalism, Islamic fundamentalism, Marxism, and regional nationalism (under which rubric he includes Egyptian, Lebanese, and Syrian variants). In every instance, he begins with the ideology's historical career, then goes on to describe its ideas, its social dynamics, appeal, and legacy. The author manages to make this structure work; more, the rigor of his approach makes it possible to compare the movements and ideas in a surprisingly direct fashion.

Salem's grounding in European intellectual history brings an additional bonus, enabling him to show the derivation of Middle Eastern ideas from their Western sources. And herein lies perhaps the most depressing aspect of the book: Westerners must acknowledge that the great majority of terrible ideas (such as the various strains of totalitarianism) that so harmed the Arabic-speaking countries in recent times come from their own civilization; while Arabs must acknowledge that their own thinkers had precious few original thoughts, but derived almost everything from the West.

Related Topics: Middle East politics

To receive articles regularly by email, join the MEF News mailing list.
To receive the full, printed version of the Middle East Quarterly, please see details about an affordable subscription.

Related Items

• Other items from the March 1995 Middle East Quarterly
• Other items by Daniel Pipes