The Arabs: Journeys Beyond the Mirage

By David Lamb. New York: Random House, 1987. 325 pps. $19.95 (cloth).

Reviewed by Robert G. Hazo

David Lamb's The Arabs is an almost ideal introductory work that, on the one hand is not patronizing, and on the other is clearly and attractively written. In fact, Lamb has done very well in conveying not only the basic facts and trends of recent Middle East history, but the flavor of life in Arab countries and the character of Arab culture. He does so by presenting in 13 thematic chapters a potpourri of condensed history, impressions, statistics, vignettes, vivid descriptions, personal experiences and, here and there, political judgments.

Perhaps the book's keynote statement is its conclusion that American policy towards the Arab world has been made largely on the basis of profound ignorance, at both the official and public levels. This puts us, he argues, on a "collision course" with the Arabs. Recent history is so littered with American foreign policy failures that the statement seems indisputable. Given the multi-faceted Arab grievances against both the US and West, there is no hope for any administration that seeks like the present one, to impose US wishes or desires without even seeking to understand the historical, religious, and cultural terrain within which current Middle East events take place.

By writing an informative and readable book, for the curious and intelligent but non-specialized layman, Lamb is doing his bit to clear away some of our ignorance about an area of great strategic and economic importance to the US.

Because Lamb's self-professed goal is to seek out "common denominators" in that vast and varied area known as the Arab world, his book succeeds in touching upon almost all of the themes that are conventionally accepted as focal points of interest among and about the Arabs.

Lamb is at his best in dealing with immediate and visible problems. His chapter on Cairo, its torpor, and the manifold problems that are a function of Egypt's increasing demographic density should humble any urban expert who thinks he is called upon to deal with intractable problems in America. His chapters on Lebanon, on the effects of oil on Arab society, and his descriptions of some Arab leaders all have the ring of journalistic authenticity about them. Although his depiction of fundamentalism as something to which the Arabs have turned because of the failure of their other institutions to redress wrongs visited upon them is sound, his treatment doesn't go far enough. As he observes, fundamentalism represents the rejections of a modern reality too painful to live with. But for most of those seeking recourse to it, fundamentalism is a vehicle for the redemption of Arab honor.

Lamb writes a long and impressive chapter on terrorism, which basically traces its roots not to any Arab cultural habit, but rather to desperation. Although he is probably right in regarding terrorism as militarily insignificant, he does not sufficiently emphasize that it has other more telling effects. It made it possible for the Reagan administration effectively to replace the Carter administration's emphasis on human rights with an hysterical depiction of seemingly rootless terrorism as America's number one international problem.

Lamb also makes clear that Israel's way of dealing with the problem is limited to the stalking of terrorists and retaliation against the communities in which they arise. Yet elsewhere he says, inexplicably, "Israel has learned that to ignore the causes of terrorism and to fight violence with violence only begets more violence." There is no evidence in this book or elsewhere that Israel has learned any such lesson at all.

The author also accepts the premise that pan-Arab nationalism died either with the 1967 defeat of the Arabs or with President Nasser's death. There are certainly many signs of Arab disunity, but to conclude that this ancient dream is dead instead of temporarily dormant is, in my view, a monumental error. In any case Lamb should not attribute to Nasser's vision, as he does, the goal of "driving Israel into the sea." This statement was made once and only once by Ahmed Shukairi, head of the PLO when it was an empty front organization, prior to the 1967 war. The measure of Israel's success in repeating it and popularizing it for propaganda purposes as a "goal" of pan-Arabism is the degree to which Lamb and many who should know better have accepted it. Christopher Mayhew, a former British MP has offered a bounty to anyone offering evidence that any Arab head of state has ever stated anything like genocidal intentions towards Israelis. To date the bounty has never been collected.

Such shortcomings in Lamb's book are understandable and minor, however, compared with the great service he has performed in conveying who the Arabs are, where they've been, and where they may be going.

Robert G. Hazo is president of the Middle East Policy Association.