The Hidden Hand: Middle East Fears of Conspiracy [Paperback]

Daniel Pipes (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 15, 1998

As the first full-length study of conspiracy theories in the Middle East, The Hidden Hand reveals how such theories play a powerful role in the political life of the region. Placing conspiracy theories in their historical context, Daniel Pipes shows how the idea of the conspiracy has come to suffuse life in the Middle East, from the most private family conversations to the highest and most public levels of politics. Pipes then looks at conspiracies and their strength as a partial explanation for much of the region’s problems, including its record of political extremism, its culture of violence, and its lack of modernization. Concluding with speculations about the future of conspiracy theories, Pipes provides a key to understanding the often complicated political culture of the Middle East.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“To anyone who really wants to understand the irrational complexities of the Middle East, Mr. Pipes’s groundbreaking analysis is must reading.” —The Washington Times

“...a thoughtful book.” —The Wall Street Journal

“...an essential addition...because of its special focus on conspiracy theory as it influences the political thinking of an important region in the world.” —MELA Notes

About the Author

Daniel Pipes is Editor of The Middle East Quarterly and Senior Lecturer at the University of Pennsylvania. He is the author of nine books and the editor of one.

Product Details

• Paperback: 420 pages
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan (May 15, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312176880
• ISBN-13: 978-0312176884
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,185,395 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A well written book on a topic that's often overlooked, December 9, 2004

By 

Jill Malter ([e-mail]) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Hidden Hand: Middle East Fears of Conspiracy (Paperback)

Is it proper to discuss the popular beliefs of a group of people? Of course it is. Some groups of people are very superstitious. Some are more mystical than others. And some groups dwell on conspiracy theories to a surprising extent.

Pipes is right to being up this topic. He simply had so many experiences in which he heard some baffling conspiracy theories from otherwise intelligent people that he decided to look into the matter.

The author points out that all these conspiracy theories lead to Arab misunderstanding of the world around them. That's not good for anyone. In addition, they have enabled plenty of snooty feelings of superiority among Westerners, some of whom arrogantly see Arabs as inferior just because they act the way Westerners themselves behaved a few decades ago.

Pipes gives some examples of the conspiracy mentality. He shows how Nasser used it to misanalyze the Egyptian defeat in the Six Day War of 1967. And how others used it to tell fantastic stories about Israeli plans to acquire a rather large Empire, including not merely nearby cities such as Beirut, Damascus, El Arish, and Amman, but faraway ones such as Baghdad or Medina.

This attitude has led to a surprising evaluation of Zionism. That is, I can see being very angry with the government or policies of some nation. But I am surprised that anyone would find fault with the idea of a nation. Zionism is simply a philosophy of human rights for everyone, including Jews. Some Zionists may be good, and some may be bad. But Pipes shows that to many Arab conspiracy mentalities, Zionism itself is ominous and threatening. So much so that they are often in fear of their own compatriots being secret agents for Zionism (whatever that may mean)! And it allows them to believe simultaneously that the Zionists control the US and vice-versa.

The author asks if the conspiracy theorists are being sincere or manipulative. His conclusion is that for the most part, the politicians believe much of what they say. This is often true even when their statements appear to be in direct violation of facts, implausible, vague, unrealistic or illogical.

I think the best point that Pipes makes is that the environment in the Arab world is conducive to such beliefs. There really are quite a few conspiracies in that part of the world. There really is plenty of rewriting of history, so many people instinctively mistrust what they are told (only to replace it with even more dubious ideas). And the media in that part of the world are extremely untrustworthy as well. However, the mistrust and skepticism all this generates leads not to a more rational approach to reality but to more gullibility.

This is a very good book, and it shows that there is a need for education and modernization in the Arab world. And that more than anything, everyone needs to have a respect for truth and a willingness to cull lies and dispose of them.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Informative, but focuses mainly on the statements of rulers and officials, leaving out popular attitudes, March 23, 2009

By 

Christopher Culver - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

During a recent hitchhiking journey through the Middle East, I was shocked by how often the locals claimed the West was wholly subservient by the Jews and out to get pious Muslims. When I told people I had come from Finland, a country very much on the periphery of religiously diverse Europe, the inevitable response was, "You know Finland is controlled by Israel, right?" I saw the Protocols of the Elders of Zion openly sold in street bookstalls. Wishing to understand this absurd kind of thinking, I picked up Daniel Pipes' THE HIDDEN HAND: MIDDLE EAST FEARS OF CONSPIRACY. Though published in 1998, before a great deal of major recent events, the book is still fairly timely in describing and explaining the troubling attitudes I encountered.

Pipes gives three case studies of conspiracism in the Middle East that were prevalent before the book's publication. The first is the idea that Israel wishes to establish a "Greater Israel" reaching from Egypt to the Euphrates. Pipes cites appearances of this libel in the popular press of the region and in the statements of various autocrats. The second case study is the Islamic Revolution of Iran. Here we see that conspiracism is by no means limited to fundamentalist Muslims, but even secular authorities like the Shah saw conspiracies lurking everything. The last case study is the conflict between Iran and Iraq in the 1980s, where even matters such as the Rushdie affair were ascribed to a conspiracy against Khomeini.

Pipes points out that conspiracism is a fairly recent phenomenon in the Middle East, and prior to the 19th century the peoples of the region were not so prone to seeking out shadowy motivations behind all bad things. He argues that the rise in conspiracism is multiford. One of its sources is the enormous progress made by the West in modern times, which shamed the increasingly poor and backwards Middle East. The other source of conspiracism may be imported Western attitudes. The blood libel against the Jews became popular in the Levant only after the French accused locals during the colonial period, while the ever-present fear of "imperialists" is the rhetoric of Soviet advisors over the Cold War. Yet another reason for conspiracism is that dictatorial regimes, the kind that predominate in the Middle East, tend to encourage such thinking as it can keep them in power.

While the book was informative in many respects, I was unhappy that Pipes focused almost wholly on the statements of rulers and government-controlled newspapers. He did not adequately report on the conspiracism prevalent among the masses, which in some cases comes from government control of media, but in other cases runs rampant even when leaders attempt to counter particular opinions. For that reason I award the book three stars.

19 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Insightful analysis of this important phenomenon., April 11, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: The Hidden Hand: Middle East Fears of Conspiracy (Hardcover)

Dan Pipes is trenchant, witty and insightful as always. Pipes is one of my favorite authors in this field. The only other I would rank in the "first tier" with Pipes is Bernard Lewis. Dr. Pipes does a wonderful job analyzing the psychological forces at work in the Muslim world. His academic articles are of similar quality. I would recommend readers look for his journal articles and consider joining The Middle East Forum so that they can receive his Philly-based journal Middle East Quarterly.

Only other author with a recent book out (late last year) that I think deals with some of the same psychological phenomena (in one early chapter) is Anthony Dennis in his book "The Rise of the Islamic Empire and the Threat to the West," although Dennis deals mostly with the potential of political Islam to provide the basis for unification throughout the region. Dennis does deal brilliantly, albeit somewhat peripherally, with the 'mindset' and conspiratorial world view of some prominent Arab and Muslim leaders. For example, he mentions some of Qhaddafhi's bizarre behavior and bragging which I think trods some of the same ground as Pipes does.