ABSTRACT
The uprisings sweeping the Arab world are already transformative even if in the end they fail to bring about fundamental changes. They have already articulated a globalist outlook showing that it is possible to move in step with the world without alienating indigenous political and philosophical anchors. They have already energized an attitude that is not afraid of or embarrassed about the multiple legacies that shape the modern Middle East, including Islamic legacies. They have shown that those legacies need not be shunned in contemporary political projects but can be deployed critically in support of transformative political solidarities. Orientalism that has long maligned the Middle East and its people is now practically unsustainable. However, a genuinely cosmopolitan horizon demands conscious cultivation of diverse thought-worlds beyond the familiar civilizational discourses.
