Book Review: "A Necessary Engagement" by Emile A. Nakhleh
“A Necessary Engagement”
Author: Emile A. Nakhleh
Publisher: Princeton University Press
A Necessary Engagement” is a very timely and comprehensive book on the subject of examining and analyzing global terrorism and Islamic radicalism, as well as reinventing America’s relations with the Muslim world. The author, Emile A. Nakhleh, is very well versed and qualified on the subject. He has served for years as a senior intelligence officer and director of the Political Islam Strategic Analysis Program and Directorate of Intelligence at the Central Intelligence Agency. Nakhleh is fluent in the Arabic language, which certainly has helped him penetrate directly to the interlocutor where access to non-Arabic speakers may be difficult. This book is a synopsis and summary of his mental conclusions after traveling widely in the region and talking to a lot of people involved in one way or other on the subject.
His description of the six stages of developing Islamic radicalism is very impressive and shows a solid understanding of the process by which young average Muslims, with no such previous background, are converted to radicalization.
One notable omission, which I think is very important in understanding the roots of terrorism, is to explore the beginning of the decline of Muslim countries and the rise of Western civilization. The difference started with the invention of the printing press by Johannes Guttenberg in Germany in 1436. To my mind, this is the single most significant event. Before that, Muslim empires, especially the Ottomon Empire in Turkey and the Moghoul Empire in India, were equal or even more advanced than Western countries in some respects. The Ottomon Empire did not adopt this technology of Guttenberg’s on the advice of the royal court’s religious advisor that it would be difficult to keep the sanctity of the Koran if it were printed on a mass scale. The printing press in Europe aided in the spread of knowledge, helping science and technology to take root in Europe, with an accompanying weakening of religious control and feudalism.
First the European Renaissance emerged, followed by the French Revolution. With multiple new scientific inventions, such as the steam engine, industrial revolution came in an explosion of knowledge. Most of the Muslim world resisted these scientific ideas and thoughts emerging from the West as a ploy to mentally enslave them. In Iran, traditional wisdom and teaching was so much emphasized that an idiom says, “Finding a mistake in your elders by itself is a mistake.”
As a reaction to their helplessness to resist foreign physical and cultural assault, it was concluded and propagated by Muslim religious leaders that their defeat was a result of moving away from religious teachings, which had earlier glorified them in the world. Therefore, their salvation lay in going back to religion. On page 4, the author mentions an activist commenting on the idea that “Islam is the solution,” while not realizing that the key to the West’s success was built on the church’s defeat and emerging of science, secularism, capitalism and Western democracy. As a result of not accepting or learning science, and in spite of a glorified past, Muslim countries have not been able to make significant contributions in the modern era.
One of the other major omissions I have noted in this book is the failure to discuss the Islamic revolution of Iran in 1979, which in my opinion was a major catalyst of the present Muslim extremism. By not supporting the Iranian students movement against the Shah, the United States lost a golden opportunity to establish the first true democratic and secular government in the Middle East. By not realizing the danger of Khomeini and company, and fully supporting them and overestimating the dangers posed by socialist-leaning students at the forefront of the Iranian revolution, both the CIA and the American government have to accept blame for the aftermath.
The author has dealt with another factor involved in the spread of Islamic fundamentalism: Wahabism emanating from Saudi Arabia and a virulent anti-anything non-Muslim attitude. Hundreds of thousands of people from poorer Islamic countries from 1973 onwards went in search of better-paying jobs in Saudi Arabia and were brainwashed by Saudi preachers in their mosques. These people, when they went back to their respective countries, were the main source of spreading the hatred and intolerance toward anything that was contrary to their beliefs.
The author has also examined U.S. foreign policy and views held by Muslims toward the U.S.’s stance on political conflicts in Muslim-dominated regions, i.e., the Palestinian and Kashmir conflicts. There is no doubt that the U.S. has made many serious mistakes and shown disregard for the international norms, a prime example of which would be the Vietnam War. As a result, there is widespread resentment and hatred toward the U.S. foreign policies, not only in Muslim countries but all over the world. Although controversial and a digression from the book’s topic, yet a question raised over and over again in the book, is the U.S. invasion of Iraq after Sept. 11.
It is quite interesting and ironic that Muslim countries and leaders have all sorts of grievances and complaints against the West for actual or perceived excesses against them but not a single word of appreciation or gratitude for the benefits from or the utilizing of the fruits of science and Western civilization, including all the modern developments from electricity, cars, airplanes and the Internet, plus the raising of their health standards, raising life expectancy from an average of 47 years to over 70 years in just 50 years time. These are very strong points that the West has not conveyed strongly enough in intercultural dialogue.
One of the excellent suggestions offered by the author to bring the U.S. and the Islamic world closer is through establishing American universities in different countries. The author has given examples of American Universities at Cairo and Beirut. I think the private sector has already taken a lead in this regard. It is a very productive business to “export educations not arms.” We have seen Cornell University open a campus at Qatar and New York University open a campus in Dubai. They are both fully fledged universities.
Expanding American cultural centers is also good advice, although the exchange of visitors has a long-established tradition. I believe it would be much more beneficial if naturalized and accomplished U.S. citizens from those countries were sent back to their countries as goodwill ambassadors. They can have a much bigger audience and can create much more good will for the United States
I would recommend this book to anyone interested in understanding other cultures and in promoting peace and understanding in this world.
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