How to awaken slumbering Arab mind [Archives:2005/868/Opinion]
By Prof. Dr. Abdulaziz al-Tarb
Nations slumber; civilizations decline; peoples wake up; cultures reemerge. This is nothing like theoretical talk. It can be deduced from a perusal of the history. Many empires in the past flourished and declined; races prevailed and then retreated. The movement of history is characterized by ups and downs and an alternate shift between alertness and slumber. No doubt, this is a first-hand experience of us, Arabs. We underwent upward and downward movements and experienced slumber and alertness. Such a knowledge entails that we should mobilize and employ our nation's present capacities in order to get rid of illnesses and defects inflicting its sons and plaguing the very inner circle of its peoples.
We firmly believe that the national resolute is a governing fundamental factor if we want a quick awakening and a rebirth out of the world of hazy thought. It is enough to remember that the Germans, between the First and Second World Wars, mobilized their forces under the generalship of an adventurous leader, on the basis of a racist creed. We, of course, are not in favor of such a model. However, we derive from it the notion of mobilizing natural and human capacities to serve higher indispensable national goals and interests. We believe that Arab's slumber will not last for long and that awakening will occur soon. Our evidence is that, slumbering, Arabs were not fully oblivious. They saw sparked positive glimpses induced by setbacks and wiped out the dust of defeat. We should remember the October 1973 War, which represents the acme of Arab's life evolution, not to mention the 1994 Summer War with which we enhanced Yemen's unity to sustain Arabs' right to unity, solidarity and integration.
Hence, we may say that darkness was not an utter aspect and that a torch of light always flickered at the end of the tunnel. Now let us examine the factors that can help awaken the Arab mind and bring it to the center of contemporary events for interaction.
First: Education is a governing issue. It is not adequately taken care of by many Arab countries. Education systems are not uniform and are below the standard. We have not been able to provide an Arabic education for the new generations. Theoretical stuffing and redundancy are characteristic of the curricula while the world has made great leaps in this regard, pushing education into a stage where it depends on the enhancement of learning sans spoon feeding. Non-Arabs have adopted modern research methodologies, organized the mind and thinking priorities. Information is accessible in the age of the internet and what is needed is just the mind prepared to cope with problems and issues.
Second: Generally, the Arab culture is confined to the past and has so far proved itself to be unable to spread and carve a niche among other modern cultures despite the tireless efforts of some intellectuals, thinkers and organizations. Annual Arab publications form a tiny portion compared to the number of publications in semi-developed countries. Comparison reveals an unnecessary irritating contrast.
Culture is what glues Arabs in all circumstances. Therefore, it is an unavoidable basic element. I should add that the relation between culture and politics must be stronger than it is now in the Arab World. Excluding intellectuals from power and decision-making positions as well as the antagonism between the politician and the intellectual has mystified the vision of peoples and created a gap between thinkers and people with decision-making privileges. We should not disregard that culture governs the conduct of communities and action of individuals, creating a political atmosphere where movements and democracy thrive. Democracy is by itself a cultural practice starting with domestic upbringing in the family and at school, moving to the ability to dialogue and accept the plurality of opinion, all of which depend on an unavoidable cultural background.
Third: The Arab media represents the core of the misery because the bulk of it is state-run, detached from reality and disconnected from what is going on in the world. It repeats the same conventional cliches within a rigid discourse not accommodating the changes of the era and not reflecting aspirations of the public. It is enough to watch the news on a state-run TV to realize the gap between theory and practice. Media is a very influential instrument, rapidly evolving. Non-Arabs excel in it. Israel, for instance, has a strong media address although not based on legal and fair principles. It expresses the policy of aggression, settlement and desecrating the Muslim holy places.
The Arab media has not manipulated its capacities to present culture and creativity through dramatic works, interviews, conversations and even in press articles. I believe that the Arab media needs to be freed from its manacles and brought into the real political arena so that it honestly reflects reality and expresses the public's wishes and ambitions.
Fourth: We, Arabs, are a burden on modern technologies and instruments. Spending on modern technologies is limited; scientific research does not amuse us. We are contented with importation. We do not spend a reasonable part of national revenues on scientific research. Spending on research is very low compared to the astronomical figures of national and natural resources revenues across the Arab World. I believe nationalizing technology in the Arab area is very vital especially amidst conditions where scientific advancement and industrial superiority are two main manifestations of modern life. If we take medicine as an example, we will realize that Arabs do not collectively think of establishing medical centers to save expenses on medication abroad.
I claim that professional and vocational conventions have disappeared, leaving the markets open for foreign products without control.
Technology is a word that connotes a conjunction of education and industry. Many Arab countries do not consider this point which resulted in the disappearance of light industries while heavy industries have never shown up. Arabs cannot step into a more advanced ground unless they have their own technology based on scientific research with cutting-edge methodologies and instruments. It is funny to discover that some Arab countries talked at many an occasion about the space era and the nuclear and sophisticated industries. They chanted slogans but were satisfied with talk and addressing the local public opinion and were not serious about heading in the right direction.
Fifth: We have remarkably failed to employ Arab resources, both human and natural. We wasted much especially in the recent decades. Some may claim that the Arab-Israeli conflict has consumed our resources and made development plans fall awry. That may be true but not absolutely. The challenge we are facing should have made us wisely compute our resources and capacities in relation to challenges and risks. Nothing like that happened. We, however, can never say that the bulk of the Arab wealth is meager. The problem lies in the classification of resources and utilizing them to serve the goals of the nation in the long term in a manner that best yield profits to the Arab people. This issue is inextricably linked to the soundness of planning, accuracy in election and well-studied prioritization in each Arab state. Nevertheless, we preferred premature results to long-term fruits and the outcome was the wastage of resources and potentials.
These are five factors pointing to education, culture, media, scientific research and human and natural resources. They are factors that govern the formation of the Arab mentality. We cannot overcome the state of slumber without a political volition. The whole issue is ultimately conditioned by decision-making pertaining to high interests. The head controls the body. The rulers' ability to imagine their tomorrow and read their future is the element that governs the change from slumber to awakening. Political and constitutional reforms and the respect for human rights are complementary variables supporting the above five factors. Advancement does not come from vacuum and reform is not accomplished without reformers who are the product of a sound political life and right political education and have clear goals for which all go.
I may note that many nations kept on progressing amidst conflicts. The ideal peace formed by the balance among powers is not possible for Arabs unless they make use of the above elaborated factors.
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