How the West Stole Democracy from the Arabs

The Arabs are no strangers to the land of ignominy and shame. Their modern history, they know, is a saga of defeats and capitulations. It is a story of deceit and betrayal, a cautionary tale about the cunning of the powerful and the gullibility of the powerless. Hence, when a scholarly study re-examines the ‘original sin’ of modern Arab history, and that too in the caustic language of the clash of civilisations thesis, it does not appear remarkable or even provocative. The historical terrain after all is quite familiar, it has been surveyed a number of times, even made the subject of fiction and films. And yet, to dismiss Elizabeth Thompson’s present work on account of the familiarity and reliability of the prevailing narrative would be an act of gross injustice. For Thompson’s work impresses us as a splendid piece of academic research that successfully recovers some long forgotten, or deliberately suppressed, facets of the historical reality of the colonial past. In many ways, it is a ground-breaking effort that is painstakingly researched, judiciously analysed and beautifully written. An essential read for anyone interested in history and politics, East or West!