What's Really Wrong With The Middle East [Paperback]

Brian Whitaker (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 2010

"A passionate call for political and social change in Arab countries . . . and a stern critique of the status quo."Jeremy Bowen, BBC Middle East editor

The problems in the Middle East are always someone else’s fault.

While the West blames dictators and extremists, Arabs often blame centuries of foreign interference. For many, both in the East and West, the root problem is a lack of freedom.

Looking beyond the turmoil reported on our TV screens, Guardian journalist Brian Whitaker examines the "freedom deficit" that affects Arabs in their daily lives: their struggles against corruption, discrimination, and bureaucracy, and the stifling authoritarianism that pervades homes, schools, and mosques as well as presidential palaces.

Drawing on a wealth of new research and wide-ranging interviews, Whitaker analyzes the views of Arabs living in the region and argues that in order to achieve peace, prosperity, and full participation in today’s global economy, Arabs should embrace political and far-reaching social and cultural change.

Brian Whitaker was Middle East editor at the Guardian for seven years and is currently an editor for the newspaper’s Comment is Free website. He is the author of Unspeakable Love: Gay and Lesbian Life in the Middle East (Saqi Books, 2006; also published in the United States by the University of California Press, 2006). His website, www.al-bab.com, is devoted to Arab culture and politics.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

According to Whitaker (Unspeakable Love), former Middle East editor at the Guardian, the various political, economic, and human rights deficits are too commonly shrugged off by the Middle East's civil society as someone else's fault. While acknowledging the huge impact of European colonialism, foreign interventions, and despotic leaders, Whitaker argues persuasively that if Arabs are ever to take charge of their predicament they must stop asking 'How did we get here?' and instead say 'How can we move forward?' In looking for answers, Whitaker brings the conversation to the actual populations struggling against stultifying authoritarianism, cultural stagnation, corruption, and deep-rooted inequalities, in the process revealing the debate among Arabs themselves about change—a debate that many in the west are still largely unaware of. His analysis is accessible and instructive, and cuts deep, settling neither for easy explanations nor simple solutions. (June)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

'A passionate call for political and social change in Arab countries... and a stern critique of the status quo.' Jeremy Bowen BBC Middle East Editor One of the many merits of this book is that it tries, as far as possible, to let the Arabs provide the narrative. The narrative comes partly from Whitaker's encounters as a traveller interested in the Middle East and later as a journalist reporting for the Guardian newspaper; partly from written sources; and also from a series of lengthy interviews conducted especially for this book. Listening to the Arabs makes a refreshing change from the all too common habit of western pundits of pontificating about the Middle East and lecturing to the Arabs. Whitaker has given us a lively, highly readable and illuminating survey of the countless things that are wrong with the Middle East today. What emerges clearly from his survey is that the root problem, at least in the Arab world, is the lack of freedom. He concludes that in order to achieve peace, prosperity and full participation in the global economy, the Arabs should embrace far-reaching social, economic and political reform. Few would disagree with this conclusion but one has to be an incorrigible optimist to expect real change to take place in the foreseeable future. Avi Shalaim The Guardian Review 28th November 2009 'This is an interesting and informative book, and a passionate attack on the corrosive effects of inequality.' Sholto Byrnes, New Statesman (Should)be required reading by Arab elites from the Atlantic to the Gulf... This book will anger some and excite others. It is one of the most ambitious attempts in recent years by a western writer to analyse what is really wrong with the Middle East.' Patrick Seale, Al Hayat

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Saqi Books (May 1, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0863566243
• ISBN-13: 978-0863566240
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #103,301 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent basis for discussion, January 4, 2012

By 

Al Mzungu - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: What's Really Wrong With The Middle East (Paperback)

I read this book with interest and anticipation. I admire Brian Whitaker for his initiative to start a discussion going. I live in the ME and I appreciate what Brian is trying to achieve. The ME will have to find a way to free itself from that part of their culture that keeps them tethered to the past, and discussion is the only way forward.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very specific and informed, May 6, 2011

By 

Stephen Pellerine (In a bookshelf somewhere) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: What's Really Wrong With The Middle East (Paperback)

I found this book at a time when I was describing the education systems here in the Middle East, and the first chapter takes a look at traditions here from an educational perspective. I was immediatly hooked and found what the author to be writing quite accurate from what I hear, and have experienced. It is good, for us educators, to get snapshots of the past which says something about the inertia of current trends. Interesting to note that just years ago a nation like Saudi Arabia only allowed 25% of the student polulation to be female - but in current times the number of females in education was outnumbering the male polulation.

If you are in the Middle East, like to read about the Middle East, or are interested in learning of different regions of the word this may be a good choice for you. Soft and east to read based on a range of sources. Hope you enjoy.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Question asked and answered, March 25, 2011

By 

Dr. J. J. G. Jansen - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: What's Really Wrong With The Middle East (Paperback)

The book answers the question the title poses. Towards the very end the book becomes politically correct, perhaps at the publisher's bidding? This, however, does not diminish the importance of the book.