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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Good Starting Place., June 5, 2004
I always feel akward in trying to review or analyze books on the middle east. While I try to 'understand' middle eastern politics, societies and history, I know that i will never be able to actually understand it. And while i am well-read and have an M.A. in political studies, I have never felt much familiarity, despite my effotrs, on middle eastern politics. Mr. Lamb quickly tells me why this might be, as if i didn't already sort-of know, in his introduction. That is that the difference between the West and the Middle East's lifestyle is just night and day. Individual autonomy is king here; group cohesiveness is king there. Secularism is just an accepted thing here; it is often unthinkable there. We are so comfortable with democracy and all that comes with it here; it is still quite new and alien there. None of these are meant to suggest Western superiority; just to illustrate that if one is Western (unless one has a middle eastern ancestry, perhaps), one will never really be able to enter the mindset of the Middle East. For all that, though, Mr. Lamb gives a good try and in light of what I said, that seems all that can be expected. He is a Westerner and, as another reviewer derogatorily stated, a Western Patriot. He sees things from a Western perspective and is the first to admit that as such, he never was quite able to shed the 'western eyes.' But he gave it a good go, and in that, the book deserves all the four stars I've given it. This book was written well before Sept. 11th, which is refreshing. It is not a polemical tract; nor is it a scholarly work of history or political theory. While the book is not 'unbiased' in any sense that Mr. Lamb does not have a definitely American vantage point, it is 'unbiased' in the sense that Mr. Lamb refrains from taking too many sides or making many polemical arguments. Rather, it is a work of journalism - the tales of Mr. Lamb's four years in the Middle East. He goes through the variou religious, political, social, and historical climates and backdrops that are (or at least to him, are) the Middle East. From Saudi Arabia, to Egypt, to Bahrain, he does a good job at examining the past and present context of Middle Eastern culture(s). And as the book was written pre-Sept. 11th (and only minorly updated with sprinkles about the attacks) it is not as frantic as most of the post-Sept. 11th books. It is truly a good read and for the lay person, a great one. That said, Mr. Lamb comes away seemingly pessimistic about the Middle East. The problem he seems to have the hardest time with, while never coming right out to say it, is the problem most Westerners have. The West is always inclined to look forward; we are looking for the new innovations, new ways of doing things, improvements to be made, and how the future contains new and ever increasing knowledge to help us move on. Our only rule is that there is no rule so sacrosant that we cannot alter it if need permits. The Middle East, at least as he and many others see it, is much more intent on traditionalism; if it wasn't in the Koran or have some tie in with tradition, it is ill-accepted. Even when legitimately trying to look ahead, the Middle East seems easily undercut by wanting to look back to the past. Islam encourages this, as the Koran is held to be relevant to all places AND ALL TIMES. Monarchy, dictatorship, fundamentalism, and what we westerners would (rightly or wrongly) call extreme social conservatism are not only prevelant, but seem inerradicable. Whether these judgments are right or wrong, I cannot say; I am not a middle-eastern scholar. Mr. Lamb, though, does seem to be saying the same thing as many others who've explored the region. To conclude, this book tries to be as unbiased as possible. Does it succeed? Probably not. Will any Westerner's book succeed in this goal? Probably not. Does that mean it is not valuable? No; it is simply the best we may expect. It is well written, layed out, and thorough. Mr. Lamb tries to be sympathetic to as many people as he can, and in that alone, the book is better than most out there. I strongly reccomend it especially if, like me, you are simultaneouly fascinated, mystified, curious, and confused about this thing called the Middle East.
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