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Bernard Lewis: "Europe will be part of the Arabic West, of the Maghreb"
WHAT IS FASCINATING about the Bernard Lewis interview that gave rise to this round of European soul-searching is that it was not meant to be specifically about Europe. Lewis was asked about the Iraq war, the Palestine question, hopes for liberal democracy in Iran, and the prospects for defeating al Qaeda. (On this last subject, Lewis provided an unsettling answer: "It's a long process and the outcome is by no means certain," he said. "It works similarly to communism, which appealed to unhappy people in the West because it seemed to give them unambiguous answers. Radical Islam has the same force of attraction.") Lewis described the European Union's break with the United States in terms of a "community of envy.... Understandably, Europeans harbor some reservations about an America that has outstripped them. That's why Europeans can well understand the Muslims, who have similar feelings."But Europe's own Islamic future came up only incidentally. Asked whether the E.U. could serve as a global counterweight to the United States, Lewis replied simply: "No." He saw only three countries as potential "global" players: definitely China and India, and possibly a revivified Russia. "Europe," he said, "will be part of the Arabic west, of the Maghreb." What seems to have infuriated European listeners is that Lewis did not assert this as a risqué or contrarian proposition. He just said it, as if it were something that every politically neutral and intellectually honest person takes for granted. Posted by: lex 2004-09-30 |
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