Political and Social Thought in the Contemporary Middle East by Kemal H.

Karpat
Review by: Jacob M. Landau
Middle Eastern Studies, Vol. 6, No. 1 (Jan., 1970), pp. 111-112
Published by: Taylor & Francis, Ltd.
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4282314 .
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BOOK REVIEWS 111
Benderwerecontinuallydisappointed.He was thus unableto play any effective
role in the Russo-Turkishwar of 1711and the GrandVizier,BaltajiMehmed,
made peace with PeterI on the Pruthin July of that year partlybecauseof his
fear that Austriamight be mobilizingagainstthe Turks. These facts, and the
way in whichthe Ottomandeclarationof war againstRussiaissuedon April 30,
1713,was madecompletely ineffectiveby the conclusionof the peace of Utrecht
and by renewedfears of Austrianintervention,show clearlyhow Charleshad
now becomea ratherminorelementin an elaborateinternationalpower-structure
and an increasinglycomplexnetworkof diplomaticfearsand hopes. In spite of
the considerablerecoveryof Swedishmilitarypower which followed his return
home in 1715he was, to the end of his reign,neverable to escapefrom the in-
fluenceof strongerforces on the internationalstage.
His life, from manypoints of view, must be seen as a tragedy.But it was also
a story of unremittingeffort, of promise,to some extent of achievement.The
publicationof ProfessorHatton'swork, solidlybasedon the enormousamount
of detailedresearchdonein Swedenin the lasttwo generationsandequippedwith
a bibliography,copious notes and seventeen pages of plates, means that a
remarkableman has at last found an Englishbiographerworthyof him.
M. S. ANDERSON

PoliticalandSocial Thoughtin the Contemporary MiddleEast. Ed. by KemalH.

Karpat.Pp. xiii+397. Pall Mall Press.?4 4s.
Theeditorof this anthology,Professorof MiddleEaststudiesat the University
of Wisconsin,startshis prefaceby statingthat 'thisbook is intendedbasicallyto
providestudentsof MiddleEasternaffairswith directaccess to contemporary
politicaland socialthoughtin the area'.Obviously,therehas beenfor some time
a pressingneedfor a collectionof the mainideas influencingpolitics and society
in the Middle East-in accurateEnglishtranslation.In additionto interested
scholarsandstudentswho haveno readingknowledgeof modernMiddleEastern
languages,such an anthologycould also benefitthose able to read Arabic, or
Turkish,or Persianalone.
It is by thesecriteriathat ProfessorKarpat'svolumeought to be judged. One
may start by stating that this is, indeed, an importantcontribution,which in
yearsto come will assistmodernhistorians,politicalanalystsand commentators
on currentaffairs.For these and others,Karpathas drawnup a generalsurvey
and then introducedeverydocumentin this book.
Karpatbringsup a numberof suggestivepointsin his generalsurvey(pp.3-18).
Primarilyinterestedin the values associatedwith modernization,he finds the
main sourcesof ideology throughoutthe MiddleEast in social dislocation,the
crisisof identityand the searchfor new cohesivenessin the social and political
orderwithinthe modernstates.Thissearchhas conditionedthe activistcharacter
of many ideologiesin the contemporaryMiddle East. Since governmentwas
often consideredthe only effectiveforcefor executingwhataspectof moderniza-
tion appearedcruciallyimportant,all majorideologiesadvocatedstatism,differ-
ing mainlyin scope and method.
It is perhapsthe greatestmeritof Karpat'sbook that it examinesthese major
ideologies in their local framework,not downgradingthem by comparisonto
some of the more systematicthinkingin Europeand the U.S.A. The two main
ideologiesin the modernizingMiddleEastappearto benationalismandsocialism.
Karpatis interestedin the attitudesof both to religionand secularism,as well as
in the structuraldifferentiationbetweenrepresentativeexponents.
WhileKarpat'sperceptionof the importantversusthe trivialand his ensuing
methodologicalapproachare sound, one may take issue with his selectionof
materials-which after all is, to a degree, a matter of individualapproach.
Israel'sexclusionfrom this anthology,justifiedby the authoras due to 'lack of
space'and the difficulty'to fit Israelorganicallyinto the generalhistoricalintro-

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112 MIDDLE EASTERN STUDIES

duction', mars the completeness of the overall picture. Iran, also, receives rather
inadequate treatment, proportionately (pp. 373-90), and such important features
as the relevance of religion in Iranian political and social life are manifestly absent.
All this is somewhat compensated by the ampler treatment of political and
social thought in the Arab countries of the Middle East (pp. 19-294) and in
Turkey (pp. 295-371). Each of these two sections is introduced by an essay and
composed of several lengthy extracts. The forty-four items collected in the part
on the Arab countries include selections from the writings of 'Abd al-Rahman
al-Bazzaz (characteristics of Arab nationalism), AntuOnSa'ada (Arabism and
Syrian nationalism), Pierre Jumayyil (The Phalangist viewpoint), Hlasanal-Banna
(Muslim Brotherhood), Ahmad Baha' al-Din (The era of military coups),
Muhammad Husayn Haykal (Communism versus Arab socialism), Gamal
Abdel Nasser (Principles in Egypt's political life), King 'Abdallah of Jordan
(Islam, Arabism, and the Unity Plan). The sixteen items in the part on Turkey
have been grouped around five major themes: a new democratic order; Ataturk-
ism; socialism and statism; nationalism. Besides excerpts from Ismet Inonu and
other well-known figures, Karpat has brought together selections from several
less-known writers and thinkers, thus proving again his thorough familiarity
with modem Turkish sources-already evinced in his former book, Turkey's
politics: the Transition to a Multi-Party System.
Again, the selection and collation of sources, particularly in the embarras de
richesse offered by modern Arabic and Turkish writings, is to a great extent a
matter of individual taste. The present reviewer would have liked to see more
about community factionalism in Lebanon and minority problems in general
(e.g. in Iraq); or more recent views of theoreticians associated with the Muslim
Brethren (such as those currently active in Geneva); or some of the more articu-
late journalists connected with the new left in contemporary Turkey (for
example, Cetin Altan). These may have supplanted a part of the three extracts
chosen from Antun Sa'ada or of the over-lengthy discussion of 'Arab socialism
in the making' by Muhsin Ibrahim (pp. 206-19).
The translation is punctilious, in general, and mistakes in transliteration are
rare, for instance al-Maznl (pp. 26, 395) for al-Mazini; or al-Sa'dat (pp. 116,
229-36, 396) for al-Sadat. Hardly any misprints occur, all the more remarkable
in a book of such character and scope (on p. 22, footnote 5, the date 1960 should,
of course, read 1860). There is no general bibliography, but the numerous foot-
notes, replete with information, are an adequate substitute. The index lists
personal names only; perhaps a second edition could enlarge it to include con-
cepts, technical terms and selected subject headings. This would enhance further
the usefulness of this valuable book.
JACOB M. LANDAU

Modern Yemen, 1918-1966. By Manfred W. Wenner.JohnsHopkinsPress;

London.InternationalBook Export Group Ltd. Pp. 256. 66s.
During the last few years there has been quite a spate of books by Western
writerscentredon one part or anotherof the regionwhich, historicallyor geo-
graphically,the Arabs have known as al-Yemen.Roughly speaking,I think of
themas followingon a long, longperiodof darknessilluminedat lengthyintervals
by the accountsof the rare travellersthere and which did not preventYemen
remaining,as ProfessorWennersays, 'one of the least known countriesin the
world'.
With one or two notable exceptions,the trouble about most of the writing
about the country today is that it fails to reflect the Arab way of thinking.
Empathyis essentialif the Yemen is to be interpretedto Westernreaders,and
to acquireit needs not only being and travellingin the Yemen, but livingwith
the Yemenisin theirown way and knowingthemnot only as they aretoday, but
knowing quite a lot about their past. This does not mean that the interpreter

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