Illusion of Progress in the Arab World: A Critique of Western Misconstructions

With the razor pen and keen intellect that have won him numerous loyal readers for his previous books, Egyptian economist Galal Amin here takes on the terms of the debate between the Arab world and the West. Amin deconstructs in his own inimitable style the language and underlying assumptions with which the West habitually assails Arab countries and politics. He applies his sharp wit and powers of observation to notions of freedom, democracy, human rights, terrorism (of course), and more, all of which fare the worse for falling under his gaze. In Amin's view, the western concepts of progress and backwardness as they apply to the Arab world are wrong-headed, and continuing to deploy them as theoretical tools leads into all sorts of blind alleys. True to form, Amin's analysis is laced with scholarly research, much humanity, and sly, subtle humor. His critique of the much-discussed