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Bush's historian
The tributes to Bernard Lewis, the man who coined the term 'clash of civilisations', fail to convey how controversial he is.The US vice-president, Dick Cheney, headed a select list of guests yesterday to celebrate the 90th birthday of Bernard Lewis, the White House's favourite historian and the man who coined the term "clash of civilisations". An article in the New York Sun says Prof Lewis is "considered the world's foremost historian of Islam and the Middle East". It quotes a former student as saying that his book, The Muslim Awakening of Europe, is "one of the best history books ever written" and adds that "even his rivals acknowledge his intellectual power". The Wall Street Journal has a similarly glowing tribute ("A sage in Christendom"), as does the Times ("A pillar of wisdom in the great Islamic debate"). None of these articles really convey what a controversial figure Bernard Lewis is. He seems to be revered by many Americans (especially those who don't know much about Islam) but his views are far less influential elsewhere. Among academics specialising in the Middle East (including many in the US), the praise is mainly for his early work. He hasn't travelled much in the Arab countries and his area of greatest expertise is Turkey - not the most typical of Muslim countries. Although he has a track record of coming up with interesting - if debatable - ideas, in recent years his ideas have been based less and less on solid research, and directed more and more towards providing a scholarly veneer for the Bush administration's Middle East policies. His track record in that area is pretty bad. He was one of the key figures promoting the invasion of Iraq and, presumably drawing on his knowledge of Turkey, he argued that his chum Ahmad Chalabi, the convicted fraudster, could become an Iraqi version of Ataturk. More recently, he has had some batty thoughts about an Islamic takeover of Europe by the end of the century - a prediction that is now "widely accepted" according to at least one fear-mongering American commentator. For more sceptical appraisals of Lewis's work, readers may like to peruse the following: Alain Gresh: Malevolent fantasy of Islam Oliver Miles: Lewis gun Shahid Alam: Scholarship or Sophistry? Bernard Lewis and the New Orientalism This article calls out for a full Rantburger drawing and quartering. Unfortunately, I have to go to work, so I can't join in the fun. Posted by: ryuge 2006-05-02 |
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