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Justin Brown Professor Karam Dana Honors 394B: The Arab Spring February 19th, 2014 Captivated by the Narrative of Arab Nationalism Before taking this class, I did not know what I was talking about. In fact, there was so little I knew that I chose not to talk at all. On the first day of class, you confirmed that everyone was familiar with the Arab Spring. You were relieved to find that, yes, everyone had at least come out from under their rocks for the past few years to participate in the world. In truth, I had no idea what the Arab Spring was. Certainly, I knew of the events of Egypt, of Libya, and the civil war in SyriaI just did know these events motivations or that they could collectively be encapsulated within the Arab Spring. I cannot decide if this class has shattered my understanding of the Middle East, or if there was nothing there to shatter and it has simply constructed something entirely new. So in class, while my peers were expanding their knowledge on the political complications that Egyptians faced after Mubarak was ousted, I was instead learning who Mubarak was and why the people took Tahrir Square in the first place. I have loved every minute of it. In many ways, I still do not know what I am talking aboutto claim otherwise after a single undergraduate course would be absurd--but I do have an appreciation and empathy for a region that used to be a mysterious unknown. I connected to the stories and the people. Specifically, I had a surprising emotional response to the story of Arab Nationalism.

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I was certainly moved, like my peers, by the intensely emotional documentaries shown in classspecifically The Square[1] and Bahrain: Shouting in the Dark[2]. Perhaps more surprising, was how deeply moved I was by Adeed Dawishas Arab Nationalism in the Twentieth Century. For someone who was mostly ignorant of the social and political history of the Middle East, that book read like fiction. Figures like Sati al-Husri, Faysal I, and Gamal Abdel Nasser were protagonists in a thrilling underdog narrative; the end of readings felt like cliff hangers. I had only a loose understanding of how the story ended, and I quickly became emotionally invested in the tale of Arab Nationalism. It was a movement of hope for a region that had been stripped of its power through centuries of Ottoman rule and then subsequent arbitrary regional divisions by the West [1]. I am not sure if it is the fault of my early public schooling or of my own inability to come out from that aforementioned proverbial rock, but prior to this class I had not heard of the Six-Day War. It sounded ominous and I knew it was coming, but when it finally did (in the context of Daweeshas writing) it still felt shocking. I was angry. Daweesha summarizes the weight of this war, quite poignantly: Arab nationalism, even if people were not fully aware of it then, was reaching the end of its extraordinary journeyThe sunhad finally set.[3] So this is it? This poetic movement that had been building for over half a century had suddenly lost all momentum in less than a week. After setting aside this extended literary metaphor, it became sadder when it sunk in that this was not within a fictional context-- that this was real, and that this dream belonged to human beings. I remember trying to retrace the frustrating narrative, reworking causal relationships and proposing scenarios that may have been able to create a hypothetically successful Arab state. If only Egypt had abandoned its wataniyya earlier, and moved in concert with Syria and Iraq to lead the movement in the 1930s as Husri had hoped for [3]. If only these leading nations had been

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more effective in transforming the movement from one of intellectual theory for the elite to one of meaning for the people. If only the enthusiasm that Nasser was able to inspire in Arabs could have existed immediately following World War I. [3] That period was open-ended and full of potentialexcluding remaining colonial, European manipulation. Yet the people of Syria and Iraq held too closely to their tribal and regional identifies to give in to the dreams of Faysal and Husri.[3] I began to imagine what the world would be like if a unified Arab state did exist, and if that state reached the levels of glory that Nasser, Aflaq, and Husri imagined[3]. Would the existence of a global superpower in the Middle Eastcomparable to the United States, Russia, or Chinaadd a sense of balance to global politics? Or would the United States simply pick a new other to cast as its enemy in the name of its own political interests? I personally lean towards the former theory, and hope for the creation of a single, secular Arab state. Perhaps when oil loses significance and the region plays less of a critical role in their strategic interests, the West will back off and the region can develop in accordance to its own interests. Though I get the sense, with the rise of Islamic nationalism, that secular Arab nationalism may have missed its chance. It is easy for me, for Daweesha, or for anyone to point to specific critical points of failure or to propose what if scenariosthe narrative is conveniently laid out for intense scrutiny. Yet to view Arab nationalism as a contiguous narrative, as I did, is an inherently flawed and foolish approach. It forces cause and effect in instances where relationships may not necessarily exist. Daweesha, while ironically crafting a book on the story of the movement, does an incredible job at recognizing this. By investigating deeper motives, Daweesha is able to refute scholars like George Antonius that attempt to erroneously incorporate events into a historically ideal depiction of Arab Nationalism.[3] Admittedly, I was frustrated at the Iraqi people for their inability to

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overcome their sectarian differences to lead the movement. I resented Egypts prideful nationalism and Prime Minister Saad Zaghloul Pasha disrespectful dismissal of Arab Nationalism.[3] Yet, this frustration fails to consider the context of those events, and instead forces them into the narrative of Arab Nationalism. Many of these decisions made sense in the context of the priorities of those governments and its people at the time. Their eventual effect on the success of Arab Nationalism is only obvious because of this narrative-based vantage point that the study of history allows. This viewing point is both powerful and precarious. Beyond the innumerable names, historical events, and political theories that I will take with me from this class, I also walk away with a new philosophical emphasis on this attention to context. Any side can bend any event to fit its own narrative. It is important to understand the true context and motivations of each side. Before this class, I had never known the Arab storyI am so glad I got to hear it.

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References 1. Bahrain: Shouting in the Dark. Al Jazeera English, 2011. YouTube. Web. 2. Dawisha, A. I. Arab Nationalism in the Twentieth Century: From Triumph to Despair. Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP, 2005. Print. 3. The Square. Dir. Jehane Noujsim. Noujaim Films, 2013. Netflix