Arab Nationalism in the Twentieth Century

Abstract

In Arab Nationalism in the Twentieth Century, aptly subtitled From Triumph to Despair, Adeed Dawisha provides us a most compelling narrative. He tells of a time, not long ago, when Arabs still believed that a glorious future was ahead of them. Today, the very thought of a fiery, charismatic Arab leader, adored by his people and rising to oppose the West, seems silly and unrealistic. But four decades ago, Egyptian President Gamal Abd al-Nasser was hailed as nothing less than a modern-day savior, and it seemed – if only for an instant – that the unification of the Arab world was not just probable, but a historical inevitability. Dawisha goes beyond the successes, excesses, and outright failures that defined Arab nationalism at its height. Using a wide variety of English and Arabic source material, he weaves a complicated picture, analyzing in detail how Arab nationalism was born and how it would die just as quickly. Central to his argument is that, from the beginning, Arab nationalism faced an uphill battle in its bid to win over an otherwise indifferent (and illiterate) populace. The author takes particular issue with George Antonious’ thesis that leading up to World War I, the region’s elites and masses had been stirred by “the Arab will to freedom.” It would prove terribly difficult for the nationalists to compete with entrenched pan-Islamic identities. For this reason, the most prominent early advocates of the nationalist ideal were Christian, such as the Syrians Negib Azoury and Ibrahim al-Yajizi. The Muslim elites were suspicious, seeing in Arab nationalism, with its secular emphasis, a perfidious plot to divide them ...