ABSTRACT
The Arab Upheaval has been the cause of profound bewilderment in the developed world and among policy makers, not least in Washington. Great enthusiasm for the Arab Spring was quickly replaced by confusion and concern regarding Islamic democracy or an Islamist Winter, depending on one’s perspective. Illiteracy in the major Arab countries still hovers between 20–30 per cent, again in the same range as in mid-nineteenth century Europe. Whereas nineteenth century Europe and the West were the world’s pioneers and world leaders in modernization, Arab countries are among the world’s stragglers, with only Africa trailing behind. Among the non-Arab countries of the Middle East, Turkey, Iran, and Israel are all deeply rooted national states, despite the presence of large ethno-national minorities in each of them. Ethno-national differences arouse very deep human emotions and are politically highly potent and potentially explosive.
