Brutal Friendship: West and the Arab Elite [Paperback]

 

 

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"There are no legitimate regimes in the Arab Middle East"

The very first statement in the book already makes clear the direction which
Aburish's polemic will take. His central thesis is that 'the West' (shorthand
for the USA, UK and France) has by a number of means skewed the political
processes of the Arab region in its own favour to further geopolitical aims.

The West's goal is to maintain political divisions in the region, many
of which are artificial and without popular support, so as to allow it
untroubled access to its vital resource, oil. The buzzword in this
power game is 'stability', taken here to mean a stable succession of
pro-Western regimes. In this context the fostering of democratic
values would invariably be counterproductive and the West has shown
itself willing to cooperate with dictators and despots of any ilk,
provided they do not attempt to upset the prevailing order.

Aburish claims that this leads to a tacit, and sometimes rather more
obvious, cooperation between Arab governments and the West. In order
to ensure the continuance of this cooperation, the West has taken to
supporting regimes with minority popular acceptance, rendering them
more likely to address Western interests ahead of those of their own
people. In systematic case studies of each major regime, Aburish shows
how the tiny elites of the Lebanese Maronites, Iraqi Sunnis, Saudi
Wahabis and Syrian Alawis further Western interests. These elites -
hailing from minority groups representing respectively 20%, 25%, 20%,
15% of their countries' populations - further Western interests in
return for arms and guarantees against subversive activities by
foreign (i.e. Western) intelligence agencies.

Major challenges to Western hegemony have come in the form of Nasser's
pan-Arabism and the more modern Islamic Fundamentalism. These two
movements achieved such potency and proved so dangerous to Western
interests because they were blessed with the support of the Arab
people. Although Aburish's claim is difficult to substantiate in the
absence of any mechanism for determining the will of the Arab people,
it nevertheless shows that the common people are systematically
excluded from political decisions.

Aburish indicates a quasi-conspiracy of interest groups which
collectively promote a false image of the Arab Middle East. These
range from the governments involved (which draw financial and
political benefit), to their field operatives (often driven by their
own vanity and desire to enjoy the trappings of power), to the vast
majority of journalists who are keen to follow the establishment line
or in many cases simply too ignorant or lazy to cut through the
tangled web of deception and disinformation. Many wealthy Arab
businessmen and intellectuals (with a few notable exceptions), says
Aburish, help to perpetuate this false view of the Middle East in
which the simple Arabs must be protected from the onslaught of Islamic
Fundamentalism and the West's primary goal is to furnish selfless
assistance in regional development. Aburish points to the Arab
diaspora centred on London which seeks to present itself in a
favourable pro-Western light, and even sometimes Westernises aspects
of itself.

Finally, no investigation into the Middle East would be complete
without considering the Israeli and Zionist agendas. 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.

In the end the losers are the Arab people who remain exploited and
voiceless in the great melee of Middle Eastern politics. The winners
are the corrupt governments of the Middle East, and the Western
multinationals and shareholders to whose interests they pander.

Aburish has untangled a century of distorted truths and abominable creations to present to the reader a clearly interpreted and blunt picture of the truth behind the regimes in whose undeserving hands the Middle East lie. This book is an absolute rarity. Never has my understanding of the true nature of the Middle East and of the governments that run it been satisfied to the extent that Mr Aburish's A Brutal Friendship has allowed. I am a proud Arab and a diligent student, and I accept ungrudgingly what Mr Aburish has written as truth which is meant to inspire change and understanding, and to provide the impetus for acceptance by the western world away from the governments who self-absorbedly run the Middle East and towards those whom they misrepresent.

This excellent book summarises the ideas and explanations in Mr Aburish's books about Iraq, the Palestinians and the House of Saud. It also takes up in more comprehensive terms his examination of the role by the western powers, especially the United States, in sustaining the current status quo in the Middle East.

Aburish's attractive style makes 'A Brutal Friendship' suitable for keen readers with little knowledge of the region, but his intelligence, experience and open-mindedness means that he can also engage those more familiar with what remains the world's main set of flashpoints.

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5.0 out of 5 stars Does the West really support democracy and freedom?
Aburish has demonstrated conclusively and eloquently the relationship between the Arab monarchies and the West. Read more

Published on 1 Mar 2004 by RM

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