Despair is haunting parts of the Arab world. The failure of the Arab revolutions and the ascendancy of civil and regional wars deprived the Arabs of one more precious icon of theirs: the revolution. For a long time, Arabs, rightly or wrongly, appropriated the term “revolution”. The military coups which took place in Egypt, Iraq, Syria, Yemen and Libya in the 1950s and 1960s called themselves revolutions. The Algerian revolution, which erupted in 1954 and the Palestinian one, which started in 1965, became two mainstays of the modern Arab historiography and self-pride.
In addition, the revolution, in its Arab connotation, became identical to salvation. The common wisdom which prevailed until a few years ago was that only revolutions can rid Arabs of their “eternal” regimes. Let’s not forget that the Baath Party ruled Syria from 1963 and the Assad dynasty came to power in 1970. In Iraq, the Baathists seized power in 1968. In Libya, Muammar Gaddafi founded his dictatorship in 1969.
The revolution, nowadays, has a negative meaning. Very few people want to associate with it. The great majorities in the Arab countries opt for safety before anything else. After the recent spectacle of blood and mass uprooting in the region, changing the political status quo is on nobody’s agenda.
Actually, all the other ideological and material pillars upon which Arab life rested for more than five decades fell apart. Some of them became nightmares; some became fantasies.
The idea of Arab unity, born in the 1920s as a great historic project to be achieved, started to lose its appeal in 1961, when Syria seceded from the briefly alive Arab United Republic, leaving Egypt under Gamal Abdel Nasser. Since the eruption of the Jordanian and Lebanese civil wars in 1970 and 1975, it became evident that preserving the unity of almost any Arab country could be a risky and unguaranteed business. This belief, with the disintegration of many Arab countries, has hardened into a truism.
Liberating Palestine, the slogan which was adopted by almost all Arabs after 1948 and especially after the military coups of the 1950s and 1960s, which sought to divert the attention of their citizens from their miserable situation, ceased to mean anything. Since 1967, with the defeat of Egypt, Syria and Jordan by Israel, the alternative slogan became "restoring the occupied Arab lands".
In the war of October 1973, Egypt and Syria were at their best and the limits of Arab military capacity were elaborately tested. Later on, in 1978 and 1979, Egypt signed its two peace agreements with Israel. The Palestinians themselves signed peace accords in 1993; the Jordanians followed in 1994. Since 2007, Palestinian nationhood has itself became partitioned between two competing political entities in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, each of which claims to represent the interests and rights of the Palestinian people as a whole.
Patriotism, as a modern political value and an antithesis of chauvinistic nationalism, shattered after ISIL managed to stifle the nation-state by amalgamating parts of Syria with parts of Iraq. On the other hand, the growing allegiance to Iran among Shia communities in many Arab countries and the rise of Kurdish separatism in Iraq and Syria accentuated this centrifugal tendency. The Christian calamities in Egypt, Syria and Iraq created a sense of detachment, which was compounded by waves of Christians emigrating to the West.
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Read more from Opinion:
Shelina Janmohamed: Holding out for a heroine: how Muslim women real and imaginary are finding new ways to challenge hostile voices
Hassan Hassan: The deadly ISIL ambush in Kirkuk signifies the re-emergence of the terrorist group
HA Hellyer: Ghouta demonstrates the implementation of international law depends greatly on the willingness of the most powerful to instigate it
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Even Arab authoritarianism is facing some challenges which were unthinkable six or seven years ago. With the growing influence and direct presence of Russia and some regional non-Arab powers (Iran, Turkey and Israel), any national sovereignty would be compromised and ultimately halved. Syria, in this regard, might offer the best illustration of such a process. It is extremely doubtful that Bashar Al Assad, even if he succeeded in putting an end to his opposition, can preserve his previous semi-totalitarian authority. Most probably he will end up a junior partner of many external, if not also internal, powers. The Iraqi, Libyan and Yemeni examples are not very different.
Islam needs greater protection. For many decades, it has been invoked to justify and legitimise too many political acts in this part of the world. The combination of long political despotism and mushrooming televangelism produced a flood of fatwas that caricatured religion and alienated different segments of believers. The election of Mohammed Morsi to the Egyptian presidency in 2012 showed profound unreadiness of political Islam to adapt to modern realities. More harm was done by ISIL, which tarnished the religion, not only in the Islamic world but also worldwide. For many, Islam became a synonym for pure violence coupled with grim fairytales.
Oil revenues which financed almost everything in the region since the 70s, lost most of their lure. They recreated the whole region on all levels and in different forms: from construction and infrastructure projects to education and mass media, and from bolstering conservative regimes to pampering many revolutions.
Nowadays, regardless of current fluctuations of prices, we might be undergoing the twilight of oil age.
This is the reason why many oil countries are trying to accelerate their efforts to diversify their sources away from oil.
Terror and the war on terror combined to create a terrifying solution to a terrifying problem. Cities like Mosul in Iraq and Aleppo in Syria have been razed. A sectarian sense of revenge is accompanying the victories over ISIL, which could reproduce itself under different names and slogans. The international indifference towards Arab suffering is adding insult to injury. This collapse of an entire way of life is not necessarily bad, provided something better looms on the horizon.
Hazem Saghieh is a political analyst and journalist
'Tell the Machine Goodnight' by Katie Williams
Penguin Randomhouse
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Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12
Power: 819hp
Torque: 678Nm at 7,250rpm
Price: From Dh1,700,000
Available: Now
Padmaavat
Director: Sanjay Leela Bhansali
Starring: Ranveer Singh, Deepika Padukone, Shahid Kapoor, Jim Sarbh
3.5/5
Abu Dhabi race card
5pm Abu Dhabi Fillies Classic Prestige | Dh110,000 | 1,400m
5.30pm Abu Dhabi Colts Classic Prestige | Dh110,000 | 1,400m
6pm Abu Dhabi Championship Listed | Dh180,000 | 1,600m
6.30pm Maiden | Dh80,000 | 1,600m
7pm Wathba Stallions Cup Handicap | Dh80,000 | 1,400m
7.30pm Handicap (TB) |Dh100,000 | 2,400m
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The biog
Hobby: Playing piano and drawing patterns
Best book: Awaken the Giant Within by Tony Robbins
Food of choice: Sushi
Favourite colour: Orange
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Three tips from La Perle's performers
1 The kind of water athletes drink is important. Gwilym Hooson, a 28-year-old British performer who is currently recovering from knee surgery, found that out when the company was still in Studio City, training for 12 hours a day. “The physio team was like: ‘Why is everyone getting cramps?’ And then they realised we had to add salt and sugar to the water,” he says.
2 A little chocolate is a good thing. “It’s emergency energy,” says Craig Paul Smith, La Perle’s head coach and former Cirque du Soleil performer, gesturing to an almost-empty open box of mini chocolate bars on his desk backstage.
3 Take chances, says Young, who has worked all over the world, including most recently at Dragone’s show in China. “Every time we go out of our comfort zone, we learn a lot about ourselves,” she says.
My Cat Yugoslavia by Pajtim Statovci
Pushkin Press
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre turbo
Power: 181hp
Torque: 230Nm
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Starting price: Dh79,000
On sale: Now
WHEN TO GO:
September to November or March to May; this is when visitors are most likely to see what they’ve come for.
WHERE TO STAY:
Meghauli Serai, A Taj Safari - Chitwan National Park resort (tajhotels.com) is a one-hour drive from Bharatpur Airport with stays costing from Dh1,396 per night, including taxes and breakfast. Return airport transfers cost from Dh661.
HOW TO GET THERE:
Etihad Airways regularly flies from Abu Dhabi to Kathmandu from around Dh1,500 per person return, including taxes. Buddha Air (buddhaair.com) and Yeti Airlines (yetiairlines.com) fly from Kathmandu to Bharatpur several times a day from about Dh660 return and the flight takes just 20 minutes. Driving is possible but the roads are hilly which means it will take you five or six hours to travel 148 kilometres.
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
Profile of Bitex UAE
Date of launch: November 2018
Founder: Monark Modi
Based: Business Bay, Dubai
Sector: Financial services
Size: Eight employees
Investors: Self-funded to date with $1m of personal savings
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UAE rugby in numbers
5 - Year sponsorship deal between Hesco and Jebel Ali Dragons
700 - Dubai Hurricanes had more than 700 playing members last season between their mini and youth, men's and women's teams
Dh600,000 - Dubai Exiles' budget for pitch and court hire next season, for their rugby, netball and cricket teams
Dh1.8m - Dubai Hurricanes' overall budget for next season
Dh2.8m - Dubai Exiles’ overall budget for next season
Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
The specs
Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel
Power: 579hp
Torque: 859Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh825,900
On sale: Now
Sri Lanka-India Test series schedule
- 1st Test India won by 304 runs at Galle
- 2nd Test India won by innings and 53 runs at Colombo
- 3rd Test August 12-16 at Pallekele
Our legal advisor
Rasmi Ragy is a senior counsel at Charles Russell Speechlys, a law firm headquartered in London with offices in Europe, the Middle East and Hong Kong.
Experience: Prosecutor in Egypt with more than 40 years experience across the GCC.
Education: Ain Shams University, Egypt, in 1978.
