"Aburish accuses the West of moulding the Arab world to further its own interests, handpicking minority elements and criminals as leaders while denying Arab people their basic rights."
"Nasser was and continues to be the leader that the average Arab most admires. He was no revolutionary but a pro-West, anti-communist conservative, who wished to cooperate with the West. But he was a man with an independent mind who could not be controlled. He supported the wishes of the people and opposed corruption. His independent foreign policy was frowned upon. He promoted a secular Arab nationalist movement that represented a threat to Western hegemony. To overcome that threat the CIA promoted a major Islamic movement."
"Aburish shows how Arab divisions have led to the consolidation of the Israeli state, with one Arab regime being played off against another. Whilst some are content to live with Israel so long as it does not threaten their own power bases (e.g. Suadi Arabia), other countries have behaved much more complicitly to the point of direct cooperation with Israel (eg. Jordan). Israel, in dealing with each Arab state separately, paradoxically creates further regional disunity."
A Brutal Friendship: The West and The Arab Elite by Said K. Aburish - 10 customer reviews
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