Arab Nationalism in the Twentieth Century

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 le...

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Autor principal: Shadi Hamid
Formato: article
Lenguaje:EN
Publicado: International Institute of Islamic Thought 2005
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spelling oai:doaj.org-article:1401d351ae5a48adb1664bd88b13daa92021-12-02T17:49:43ZArab Nationalism in the Twentieth Century10.35632/ajis.v22i1.17282690-37332690-3741https://doaj.org/article/1401d351ae5a48adb1664bd88b13daa92005-01-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.ajis.org/index.php/ajiss/article/view/1728https://doaj.org/toc/2690-3733https://doaj.org/toc/2690-3741 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 ... Shadi HamidInternational Institute of Islamic ThoughtarticleIslamBP1-253ENAmerican Journal of Islam and Society, Vol 22, Iss 1 (2005)
institution DOAJ
collection DOAJ
language EN
topic Islam
BP1-253
spellingShingle Islam
BP1-253
Shadi Hamid
Arab Nationalism in the Twentieth Century
description 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 ...
format article
author Shadi Hamid
author_facet Shadi Hamid
author_sort Shadi Hamid
title Arab Nationalism in the Twentieth Century
title_short Arab Nationalism in the Twentieth Century
title_full Arab Nationalism in the Twentieth Century
title_fullStr Arab Nationalism in the Twentieth Century
title_full_unstemmed Arab Nationalism in the Twentieth Century
title_sort arab nationalism in the twentieth century
publisher International Institute of Islamic Thought
publishDate 2005
url https://doaj.org/article/1401d351ae5a48adb1664bd88b13daa9
work_keys_str_mv AT shadihamid arabnationalisminthetwentiethcentury
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