Middle East Review of International Affairs

Volume 9, Number 3, September 2005

 

Between Stagnation and Renovation: The Arab System in the Aftermath of the Iraq War
by Elie Podeh ^*

 

Abstract

This article explores the impact of the U.S. occupation of Iraq on the Arab system. It advances three arguments: First, that the system has not yet extricated itself from the political paralysis that characterized it in the pre-war period. Second, that in spite of its political fragmentation the system underwent some modest structural changes that may herald significant developments in the long run. And, finally, that the Arab world is witnessing an expansion of a reformist discourse and the introduction of certain liberal measures that may eventually bring about some political changes. Consequently, it can be fairly assessed that though the Arab world stands between stagnation and renovation, there are some modest signs indicating that renovation of the "Arab house" has already begun.

Full Text (PDF, 23 pages, 123.9 KB)

Note *: Professor Elie Podeh is Head of the Department of Islam and Middle East Studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and editor of Hamizrah Hehadash (the New East), the journal of the Israeli Oriental Society. He has published several books and articles on the modern Middle East. He has recently edited (with Onn Winckler), Rethinking Nasserism: Revolution and Historical Memory in Modern Egypt (2004).