The World Through Arab Eyes

Resumen del libro

An expert on Arab public opinion identifies the forces driving the revolutions and explains how those forces will determine the future of the region.

The Arab world is changing with astonishing speed. The protests of 2011 toppled autocrats and installed in their place governments of varying levels of stability. While the self-immolation of a Tunisian fruit vendor precipitated revolution, demographic and economic challenges have long simmered below the surface of outwardly stable regimes throughout the Arab world. Governments are losing their ability to unilaterally shape the national narrative. An increasing percentage of the population is young and dissatisfied with its prospects for economic security. Greater numbers than ever have access to the Internet, text messaging, social media and satellite TV. And despite widespread anger with U.S. policies, everyday Arabs have embraced aspects of Western culture and want Western-style freedoms in their own countries.

Over the past decade, Shibley Telhami has conducted an annual opinion poll of the Arab world, and in The Seeds of Spring he applies his unparalleled knowledge and expertise to the events of the last two years. Drawing on a broad array of voices from the Arab world, he plumbs the depths of the Arab psyche to analyze the forces and emotions behind the uprisings. In all of the countries that have experienced protests, the demand for dignity has been foremost. The protestors display a potent national pride nursed through decades of perceived humiliations at the hands of the West, and at the same time desire a Western democratic political system. This complex relationship is key to comprehending the seismic changes in Arab politics and society, as well as to appreciating why American perceptions of the Arab world shifted so drastically in the wake of the Arab Spring. The Seeds of Spring is vital for anyone who wants to understand the vast implications the Arab uprisings have had and will continue to have for our world.

Shibley Telhami is the Anwar Sadat Professor for Peace and Development at the University of Maryland and a Non-Resident Senior Fellow at the Saban Center at the Brookings Institution. A frequent contributor to the nation's television, radio, and print media, he is currently a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and a member of the Board of Directors of Human Rights Watch. He is the author of The Stakes: America and the Middle East.