[lbo-talk] Socialism, Pan-Arabism, and Islamism in the Middle East

[Yoshie Furuhashi]

The earlier attempt at regional integration in the Middle East, on the
basis of a mix of state socialism and pan-Arabism, was dashed at the
shore of nationalism -- Egypt, Iraq, Libya, and Syria, contenders for
pan-Arabist regional hegemony, could not get along -- and conflicts
with non-Arab Muslims like Iranians, Kurds, and Turks.  Socialists
sometimes supported pan-Arab nationalists but were, more often than
not, repressed by them.  The Six Day War (1967), in which Israel
defeated Egypt, Iraq, and Syria as well as Jordan, and the Camp David
Accords (1978), signed by Anwar Sadat and Menachem Begin, killed
pan-Arabism.  Just as pan-Arabism declined in the Middle East and
economic troubles in the socialist bloc, which eventually led to it
dissolution, began, populist Islamism rose as the most important
ideology for regional integration: the Iranian Revolution (1978-1979),
Hizballah (founded in response to the 1982 Israeli invasion of
Lebanon), and Hamas (founded in 1987).  That world-historical
transition, as well as the fact that state socialism had little to do
with freedom, is what we have to take into account, whether we like it
or not.

The problem of both pan-Arabism and Islamism, as well as of socialism
in the Middle East, is that their adherents get distracted by the
biggest stinking red herring that the empire has ever come up with:
Israel.  The empire is now seeking to make the Shi'i-Sunni division
the second biggest red herring.  But the real prize is oil reserves in
the Gulf states allied with Tel Aviv and Washington, and the Arabs and
Iranians should never forget about that even while they resist the
Israeli occupation.  If they keep that in mind, they can potentially
overcome their multiple sectarianisms.
-- 
Yoshie
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