Although there have been a number of criticisms over the years, there are two primary issues that make Bernard Lewis a controversial figure today. First, he is regarded as an intellectual architect of America’s current interventionist policy in the Middle East (including Iraq). Second, he has promoted the idea that the reason America is hated by extremists is because they hate America’s values rather America’s international policies (especially where Israel is concerned).
As to the first, it is curious that Lewis would ever come to such a role — at one time, he argued just the opposite. A 1957 essay reads:
- “What action should the Western states take in the present Middle East situation? My own answer would be: As little as possible. The peoples of the Middle East are going through a crisis of transition, which we helped to precipitate, but which they alone can resolve. ...We of the west can also do something to help, on non-political levels, but should beware of proposing solutions that, however good, are discredited by the very fact of our having suggested them.”
Sounds like very good advice — has the situation really changed so dramatically that in 2002 he could write that “if we succeed in overthrowing the regimes of what President Bush has rightly called the ‘Axis of Evil,’ the scenes of rejoicing in their cities would even exceed those that followed the liberation of Kabul”?
It is true that American troops were welcomed as liberators, but it is also true that their welcome was worn out before much time had passed. It isn’t certain that that would have happened if there had been more competent planning for the peace, but it would be consistent with how things have happened in the Middle East previously. Lewis surely knows that, and if a historian is going to step into political affairs, ideas about how to avoid mistakes from the past are be a necessity.
Another point of criticism is Bernard Lewis’ contention that America is hated for its values, not its polities. It can’t be denied that there is something to this — fundamentalists the world over have similar opinions about modernity and the secular state, including Christian fundamentalists. All fundamentalists seem to be afflicted with a strong attraction to what modernity offers while also be repulsed by a fiery hatred.
It is implausible, however, that this is the whole story. Most Muslims, even traditionalists, are not fundamentalists. A great many Muslims want to integrate authentically religious lives and Islamic values with the needs and opportunities of modern life — with the operative word here being integrate. They aren’t seeking a medieval theocracy. That particular goal is the focus of extremist leaders and militants. So why do non-theocratic Muslims support theocratic terrorists?
This is where the role of American foreign policy seems to come in. Terrorist leaders like Osama bin Laden don’t rally support by promising to impose theocracy on people. Instead, they rally support by identifying people’s problems (autocratic regimes, poverty, lack of any important say in world affairs), identify the causes (American meddling, Western corruption, Israeli occupation), and promising to fix things (drive out Israelis, Westerners, and Americans).
Since World War II America has provided more support to Muslims generally and Arab Muslims in particular than most other nations, so claims about American bias are a bit overstated. At the same time, though, that support has generally gone through autocratic governments that people don’t like and is easily contrasted with the large support given to Israel. Thus, while American bias might be more appearance than reality, it’s a very strong appearance with enough truth to create great fodder for ideologues.
Bottom Line
This is not an especially bad book, but it’s also certainly not Lewis’ best work. Rather than a scholarly look at a particular issue it is a wide-ranging series of essays covering an incredible array of issues and questions. It seems unlikely that this book will be very appealing to many except those who are already fans of Lewis’ work and are especially interested in hearing more from him, especially when it comes to unusual and little-addressed topics. As for everyone else, there are surely chapters that will be good for those in specialized fields, but that probably isn’t a good enough reason to buy the whole book.
« Back...
