February 26, 2003

An Arab Renaissance?

I have always enjoyed reading Steven Den Beste’s USS Clueless site as he always seems to have some kind of a post that makes me think. Today is no exception. Mr. Den Beste has posted a rather lengthy dissertation on the overall war between the west and the Muslim culture.

Overall, I agree with his assessment of the situation. He is accurate in almost every respect, but as I read the article each time (I read it three times) something just wasn’t sitting quite right. At first I thought I didn’t agree with the idea that the Muslim culture was diseased. I think of more as being poisoned but the nutcase zealots in power. Diseased to me indicates that there is an outside influence (possible even just fate) that has brought about a situation, whereas poisoned would be more accurate as the Islamofacists are basically killing the Muslim culture and replacing it with a culture of Jihad. But as I kept reading it over and over, I realized that Mr. Den Beste was essentially saying that the culture was in dire straights without actually pointing the figure of blame onto anyone as to why the culture was ill.

Then it hit me. I believe that there is a fairly strong parallel between Europe in the Middle Ages and the Islamic cultures now. Both could be viewed as technologically backward, militaristic, religious fanatics under pressure from an outside culture (in medieval Europe it was the Byzantines/Ottomans, today it is the US). But just as the pressure was mounting from the East, Europe experienced the Renaissance and quickly caught up to and overtook its Eastern counterpart. The Renaissance really saved Western culture from a precipitous fall from grace. We were about to implode under the weight of hypocrisy, feudalism and backwardness.

The conversion in the West from idiocy to intelligence took a few hundred years (roughly from 1450-1700) during which we discarded poor beliefs and adopted new ones. Every previous civilization of note (Greek, Roman, Egyptian, etc.) all collapsed because they could not go through the self-examination necessary for a cultural rebirth. Europe was the first to do so, which meant much trial and error and a slow process.

Mr. Den Beste offered Japan as an example of how a military occupation can help to bring about positive change in a nation without actually forcing them to convert to another belief system. He is absolutely correct in his assessment that Japan would not have come as far as it has without US intervention. But I would submit that Japan had actually begun its Renaissance in the 1850’s after Commodore Perry opened it to the West. Japan was well on it’s way at the time of WWII; the American occupation just helped to speed up the end of the Japanese Renaissance and brought the nation into the same era of thought as the rest of the world (human rights, importance of international commerce, value of strong manufacturing base, and so on). We basically turned the nation of Japan back over to the Japanese just as they made the transition from Renaissance to Enlightenment.

I would argue that a simple military occupation in Iraq would be doomed to failure. The Muslim culture still seems to be stuck in its own version of the Dark Ages. As a culture the West is getting better at helping nations through the Dark Ages/Renaissance/Enlightenment transitions. Japan took just under 100 years; Russia was even less (Czar to Communism to Representative government with individual freedoms). If we want to be successful in our quest to neutralize the threat of Arab failure, we need to concentrate on bringing the culture through it’s own Renaissance.

The Islamic/Arab culture is not diseased in the manner Mr. Den Beste theorized; it is diseased but it is also in need of a rebirth. The role of the West in general, and the US in particular, should not be that of an unrelenting surgeon attempting to transplant good ideas in place of bad ideas. We instead need to take on more of a mid-wife role - coaching and cajoling the patient through the process of giving rebirth to itself. Some surgery is obviously necessary, as evidenced by the hemorrhaging cancer Saddam, but overall we just have a violently ill patient that doesn’t know it’s pregnant. Let’s make sure that we administer the proper medication of education as soon as possible of we suture the wounds of the cancer removal; we need to make sure we nurture and inoculate the patient, not just temporarily save it only to see it killed by another cancer.

Posted by Chris at February 26, 2003 11:09 PM | TrackBack | Linked by:
Comments

I agree with this view- that the Arabs need a Renaissance. But it is unclear to me what you are suggesting the U.S. do (and not do) long term to help that process along- your language is mostly allegorical. You speak of education. I assume that will be during the military occupation? What sort of education? What sort of new government should the U.S. insist on? How long do you foresee the military occupation to be and the Renaissance to take? At what point should the U.S. be ready to say, "OK, our job is done, we are pulling out"? I guess I want the bottom line - the concrete brass tacks.

Thanks for the consideration
Cheers,
Chipper

Posted by: Chipper at February 27, 2003 10:10 AM

But isn't that why it's best to start with Iraq? Of all Middle East countries, it's probably the most secular, or so I've been led to believe. Before Saddam, I understand they weren't doing so badly compared to their neighbors. You might say that they started their early stages of Renaissance, but have thus far been hamstrung by Saddam.

Also, Iran seems nearly as ready. They were once far more prosperous too, and after two decades of the mullahs they'll be far more willing to throw off the shackles of religion (an important component of any Renaissance. The fact that they border each other (and Turkey too!) might create a happy synergy.

Posted by: Tom at February 27, 2003 11:02 AM

1.The Renaissance/Reformation argument has been out front and obvious for months and I entirely agree with it.
2. The Japan analogy is worthless. The Japanese were a homogeneous nation under a single undisputed and worshipped (literally ) head of state, the Emperor. Iraq is a fragmented artificial nation of Shiiites, Sunnis, and Kurds, created after World War 1, with dozens of religious and political factions and sects competing for power. The proposal that America can come in and lick them into democratic shape shows a touching and naive faith in the inevitability of American ideals that is certainly not shared by the Arab world.
3. An American military governor will not be seen as the nursemaid of an infant democracy
4. The price of Turkey's cooperation seems to be the granting to them of a free hand with the Kurds. This sews an evil seed.
5. The forceful overthrow of Saddam is probably necessary and inevitable. The good intention of thereafter teaching the Arab world democracy is almost certainly a paving stone on the road to hell.

Posted by: Robert Wells at February 27, 2003 11:09 AM

>5. The forceful overthrow of Saddam is probably
>necessary and inevitable. The good intention of
>thereafter teaching the Arab world democracy is
>almost certainly a paving stone on the road to hell.

How? I can certainly see how it might fail, but what is the scenario wherein we are worse off making the attempt than not?

Posted by: Tom at February 27, 2003 12:17 PM

Geesh! I sit down at work for 5 minutes to take a look at my site and I find a real debate going! I'd love to sit here and respond to each comment right now, but my boss would kill me. You guys have given a good bit to think about and I'll get more responses/answers posted later this evening.

Keep the feedback coming!

Posted by: Chris at February 27, 2003 03:24 PM

Lt. Col. Ralph Peters has discussed what he believes are the underlying faults of 'failed states' such as the Arab world. He calls them the 'seven symptons'. Islam has most of these symptoms....

http://carlisle-www.army.mil/usawc/parameters/98spring/peters.htm

It was the Renaissance that cut the apron strings by which religious power had maintained supremacy over secular power. It was Martin Luther's protests which lead to freedom of individual thought and belief in the West and eventually free political thought. Islam has not had its Luther.
Japan is pointed out as an example of a paradigm shift taking place over almost 100 years from 1859. But in reality, the Meiji restoration, although leading to industrialization, was a step backwards in terms of individualization. The God-Emporer figurehead did not exist to anything like the degree it did in 1930, in 1880. The inculcation of the 'banzai' spirit was a conscious and longstanding desire of the military elite who controlled politics over the period from about 1905 when the defeat of Russia cemented military power in Cabinet.
But THAT particular viral strain of suicidal culture collapsed quite quickly after 1945, as did a number of the other 'seven signs' which Japan had exhibited, in large part because of their inherent contradictions. Iran is exhibiting strong symptons of recognition of the stupidity of control by fatwah. I expect that Iraq will exhibit a growth path in democracy similar to that of Japan, and quite likely at a faster rate. I also expect that Iran will quickly follow, mainly by internal action/revolt. The House of Saud however will not go gently into that dark night...
My .03cents worth (Canadian funds...don'cha know!)

Geoff

http://carlisle-www.army.mil/usawc/parameters/98spring/peters.htm

Posted by: R. G. Newbury at February 27, 2003 05:56 PM


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