The Journey to the Arab Spring - The Ideological Roots of the Middle East Upheaval in Arab Liberal Thought

Recent discussions of politics in the Arab world in the US press havecentered on global Islamism vs. existing national governments, which are non-democratic regimes. This book looks at a third player: theNew Arab Liberals. The book uses the term to refer to public intellectuals and citizens of the Arab world who seek civil, secular,and democratic states in the Middle East with a strong pluralistic pan-Arab discourse. The book argues that Arab Liberals and theirideology were vital contributors to the Arab Spring movement, and understanding Arab liberalism is important to understanding howcitizens of nations across the Middle East want their governments to function. The book is in two parts: a history of liberal discourse inthe Arab world with a focus on the years since 1876, and liberal circles in the Arab sphere in the last quarter of the Twentiethcentury. An appendix gives biographies of major political and intellectual figures in Arab liberalism. Distributed in the US by ISBS.Annotation ©2014 Ringgold, Inc., Portland, OR (protoview.com)