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Holding Arab Culture Accountable

(Washington Institute for Near East Policy) Hiam Nawas - The Middle East region's fundamental problems are not political but rather cultural, therefore the U.S. and its military might is unable to fix them. The current chaos draws on an Arab culture and identity that lacks internal and external empathy, favors authoritarianism over autonomy, and opts for zero-sum solutions. The Arab moral code values revenge over compromise, men over women, and groups over individuals. Collective Arab identity is based on tribalism, submitting to paternalistic authority, a sense of honor linked to women's virginity, and an ossified sanctification of custom and tradition. There is a glorification of the past along with a refusal to take responsibility for the present and the hope that the future will miraculously be better. The contemporary Arab world lacks self-reflection and self-directed criticism. Conversations with Arabs repeatedly demonstrate an overall narrative of victimization and blaming the other. This manifests into a plethora of conspiracy theories, such as the suspicion that ISIS is an American-Israeli invention or that the Arab Spring was a Western plot to hand the region over to Islamists. The writer is a Jordanian-American analyst based in Washington.
2016-07-11 00:00:00
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