Arab Nationalism: Challenges and Failures

Paper Summary:

This paper looks at the implications for the Arab peoples of the concept of the Arab nation and Arab nationalism. The paper discusses how this concept affects the politics of the Arab nations, looks at how attainable the Arab nation really is, and discusses the real obstacles to achieving Arab unity. The paper includes a complete outline and an annotated bibliography.

From the Paper:

"The Arab nation, or Arab World, does not actually exist as a united country, but as a dream in the hearts and minds of many of the citizens of the twenty two Arab countries that form this nation. The fact that the Arab nation does not exist, could serve as an argument against the notion of Arab nationalism. Quite simply, how can Arab nationalism be real or taken in a serious sense when there is no Arab nation? Even though this question is a natural and logical one, considering that the reference is to feelings of nationalism for a nation that does not exist, it ignores one important historical fact. That is, the Arab nations did once exist, and was once united under a single powerful empire. Although it does not presently exist, as a geographic and political reality, the Arab nation has survived in terms of a shared language, culture and history, common traditions and beliefs, and most importantly united goals and ambitions. Therefore, while one has to concede to the fact that the Arab nation is not a nation in the traditional sense of the world and that attempts at creating this nation over the past decades have failed, the fact is that the Arab nation and Arab nationalism are real, have powerful psychological attraction for Arabs, and have been the basis of popular Arab ideologies; and the failure to achieve the goal of Arab unity has mainly been due to the reluctance of the individual Arab leaders to give up their dictatorship powers in favour of power-sharing with other leaders."

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