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Why They Don't Hate Us: Lifting the Veil on the Axis of Evil
Is the Muslim world really a seething mass of anti-Western hatred, or is the true situation more complicated than that? In this important and ambitious new work, Mark Levine presents a vivid and compelling picture of the human face behind the veil of the ‘Axis of Evil’ and sets out an alternative roadmap for better relations between the West and the Muslim world. Going beyond the stereotypes and below the media radar, this book explains why, contrary to the popular perception, ‘they’ don’t hate ‘us’ – or at least, not yet.
- GenresMiddle EastNonfiction
448 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 1, 2005
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
June 27, 2008
scholarly, insightful, thought-provoking, strongly opinionated, inspiring and idealistic.
the title is quite misleading (maybe chosen for the sake of fashion) and indeed much narrower than what the author intends to address. Mark LeVine, as an activist, politics/religion scholar, artist who has traveled widely across the ME, analyzes the marginalization of the Middle East/North Africa region in the process of globalization led by the Neo-cons and Axis of Arrogance (Huntington, Fukuyama, Friedman and Bernard Lewis, whose "brilliant" book I just read) and seeks to transcend the simplistic stereotyping of the Muslim world by the West.
He argues most of those "experts" on the ME have no idea what's happening at the grass-root level and overgeneralize the attitude of a fraction of radical terrorists as the representation of this immensely diverse region.
the best part of the book is when LeVine touches the most fundamental problems with the current peace and justice movement. It is becoming increasingly reliant on the demonization of the US, unwilling to criticize the Islamic regimes, incapable of offering a non-violent alternative and a holistic approach to the region and inclined to an anti-Jewish, anti-American rhetoric. He's also very critical of the failure of the Left in bridging the religious/secular cleavage, reaching out to the moderate Muslim activists and scholars in the region and gaining a more holistic understanding of the situation. The movement seems to be stuck with May 1968 despite the supposed "success" of Seattle, Genoa, Prague. Levine's solution for grass-root activism is vigorous "cultural jamming" to reach understanding and solidarity, reconciliation with the people of faith, and academic training for thousands of activists to enable them to stand up against repression without resorting to violence. That, as he rightly admits, is a formidable project that takes much more effort than flipping through An Idiot's Guide to Radical Islam.
Unfortunately, the book is not quite well-written and organized. The first part, criticism of neoliberalism and globalization, is fairly dry and academic. I was also rather disappointed LeVine is very good at critiquing people's ideas but he doesn't spell out his own definition or solution. The second and third part, cultural jamming and the Axis of Empathy, are more persuasive with a touch of personal experience and an insightful perspective.
listen to him talking about his own work:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=mfzSHVjMriE
the title is quite misleading (maybe chosen for the sake of fashion) and indeed much narrower than what the author intends to address. Mark LeVine, as an activist, politics/religion scholar, artist who has traveled widely across the ME, analyzes the marginalization of the Middle East/North Africa region in the process of globalization led by the Neo-cons and Axis of Arrogance (Huntington, Fukuyama, Friedman and Bernard Lewis, whose "brilliant" book I just read) and seeks to transcend the simplistic stereotyping of the Muslim world by the West.
He argues most of those "experts" on the ME have no idea what's happening at the grass-root level and overgeneralize the attitude of a fraction of radical terrorists as the representation of this immensely diverse region.
the best part of the book is when LeVine touches the most fundamental problems with the current peace and justice movement. It is becoming increasingly reliant on the demonization of the US, unwilling to criticize the Islamic regimes, incapable of offering a non-violent alternative and a holistic approach to the region and inclined to an anti-Jewish, anti-American rhetoric. He's also very critical of the failure of the Left in bridging the religious/secular cleavage, reaching out to the moderate Muslim activists and scholars in the region and gaining a more holistic understanding of the situation. The movement seems to be stuck with May 1968 despite the supposed "success" of Seattle, Genoa, Prague. Levine's solution for grass-root activism is vigorous "cultural jamming" to reach understanding and solidarity, reconciliation with the people of faith, and academic training for thousands of activists to enable them to stand up against repression without resorting to violence. That, as he rightly admits, is a formidable project that takes much more effort than flipping through An Idiot's Guide to Radical Islam.
Unfortunately, the book is not quite well-written and organized. The first part, criticism of neoliberalism and globalization, is fairly dry and academic. I was also rather disappointed LeVine is very good at critiquing people's ideas but he doesn't spell out his own definition or solution. The second and third part, cultural jamming and the Axis of Empathy, are more persuasive with a touch of personal experience and an insightful perspective.
listen to him talking about his own work:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=mfzSHVjMriE
August 14, 2019
Some of them do
Mark LeVine, who is a professor of Modern Middle Eastern History, Culture and Islamic Studies at the University of California, Irvine wants to champion what he calls "cultural jamming" as a means to bridge the cultural abyss between the Middle East and the West.
I think this idea has a certain appeal since cultural jamming is the practice of satirizing the power structure. It can be a force for understanding between the Middle East and the West, but primarily it is a force against established power, whether eastern or western. It is a natural product of the young, who do not yet have much power, but who will indeed have power in the future. So I am in sympathy with LeVine's enthusiasm; however as young people become older and take on the responsibilities of their societies and weld the power, will they not become the satirized?
One of the points Levine makes early in this ambitious book is that the narrow-minded, fundamentalist culture of e.g., Kansas, is similar to the narrow-minded, fundamentalist culture of the jihadis. In a broad sense the fundamentalist Christians of America and the fundamentalist Muslims of the Middle East are just opposite sides of the same intolerant, ignorant coin. They both believe that they have the one real God on their side, and regard people who believe differently as going to straight to hell.
Consequently, LeVine's conclusion that "they" don't hate "us" because there really is no monolithic "they" or "us" is technically correct. Generalizations that pigeonhole people are always wrong except as handy ways to talk. The so-called "culture" of the West with its McFoods, its NASCAR races, its mindless TV, its "football," its Hollywood movies and its gross commercialization is really just the commercial culture of America. The real culture of America is much more complex and includes a plethora of subcultures from blue blooded New Englanders living on inherited wealth to Spanish-speaking illegal aliens who work in our fields and kitchens. It includes Harvard graduates and burger-flippers; blue states and red; people who believe in democracy and the separation of church and state, and evangelicals who are waiting anxiously for the Rapture. It includes the legacy of Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin, Mark Twain and Al Capone, John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan, atheists and true believers, Nobel Prize winners and Paris Hilton. It includes millions of Muslims as well as Christians of every stripe, Buddhists and Hindus, Midwesterners, Southerners, Californians and people who have never left North Dakota.
American culture, as crass as it often is, is not the villain. The use of military power exclusively for perceived American interests, and the economic exploitation of less developed nations is what is causing a lot of pain in the world today, and is what justifiably could cause others to hate us. Invading Iraq and causing the death of tens of thousands of Iraqis and the suffering of millions more, is what fosters hatred. Artificially supporting our rich and massive agribusinesses so that Third World farmers can't compete also engenders hatred.
But a lot of the hatred is a legacy of colonialism. Only time will heal those wounds.
Still, there are cultural differences in the aggregate that must be understood and appreciated before the twain of the Middle East and the West can harmoniously meet. Education in the West and particularly in the US is based not on the Qu'ran, as it is in Muslim countries (nor on the Bible), but upon secular histories and the authority not of religious leaders who interpret holy books, but on scientific authority. There is separation of church and state in the West while in Muslim countries typically it is believed that political power comes properly from God and not from the people. While in the West we may be persuaded to think of the Middle East as backward and even evil, that is not part of the classroom instruction. However, a denigration of Western ideas and institutions is part and parcel of Islamic education where the focus is tightly on the teaching of the Qu'ran. We only have that sort of narrow focus in our more conservative religious schools.
These are real cultural differences. When everyone in Saudi Arabia has as much chance to secure a decent living as a Saudi prince, when Iranians can listen without fear to Western music, when Palestinians are represented by politicians that are really working for their benefit instead of playing out revenge scenarios, when the oil profits benefit the people as a whole and not just the ruling classes (or special interests in the West)--in short when everybody has a greater stake in the societies, there will be a lot less hatred, and cultural differences will be seen in a more benign light.
One final thing: LeVine wants the US to declare a truce with Muslim countries. (See page 330 and following.) But even though I agree that the US's "war on terror" is at best a misnomer and at worse a crusade, I don't think declaring a truce makes any sense at all. We are not at war with Islam or Muslims or Muslim countries. To declare a truce would falsely say that we were. Also a declaration that we have sinned in the past (colonialism, etc.) and now apologize is of limited value. We can apologize for the slaughter of Native Americans, for enslaving Africans, even for killing of the Neanderthal if we like. And I suppose Muslims could apologize for forcing innumerable peoples to embrace Islam or else. I don't like any of that sort of thing because I, in particular, enslaved nobody and killed nary a Native American. I cannot apologize for those who did.
What is needed is a declaration of intent to not exploit others or otherwise do nasty things to them. That's what LeVine ought to be calling for.
--Dennis Littrell, author of “The World Is Not as We Think It Is”
Mark LeVine, who is a professor of Modern Middle Eastern History, Culture and Islamic Studies at the University of California, Irvine wants to champion what he calls "cultural jamming" as a means to bridge the cultural abyss between the Middle East and the West.
I think this idea has a certain appeal since cultural jamming is the practice of satirizing the power structure. It can be a force for understanding between the Middle East and the West, but primarily it is a force against established power, whether eastern or western. It is a natural product of the young, who do not yet have much power, but who will indeed have power in the future. So I am in sympathy with LeVine's enthusiasm; however as young people become older and take on the responsibilities of their societies and weld the power, will they not become the satirized?
One of the points Levine makes early in this ambitious book is that the narrow-minded, fundamentalist culture of e.g., Kansas, is similar to the narrow-minded, fundamentalist culture of the jihadis. In a broad sense the fundamentalist Christians of America and the fundamentalist Muslims of the Middle East are just opposite sides of the same intolerant, ignorant coin. They both believe that they have the one real God on their side, and regard people who believe differently as going to straight to hell.
Consequently, LeVine's conclusion that "they" don't hate "us" because there really is no monolithic "they" or "us" is technically correct. Generalizations that pigeonhole people are always wrong except as handy ways to talk. The so-called "culture" of the West with its McFoods, its NASCAR races, its mindless TV, its "football," its Hollywood movies and its gross commercialization is really just the commercial culture of America. The real culture of America is much more complex and includes a plethora of subcultures from blue blooded New Englanders living on inherited wealth to Spanish-speaking illegal aliens who work in our fields and kitchens. It includes Harvard graduates and burger-flippers; blue states and red; people who believe in democracy and the separation of church and state, and evangelicals who are waiting anxiously for the Rapture. It includes the legacy of Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin, Mark Twain and Al Capone, John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan, atheists and true believers, Nobel Prize winners and Paris Hilton. It includes millions of Muslims as well as Christians of every stripe, Buddhists and Hindus, Midwesterners, Southerners, Californians and people who have never left North Dakota.
American culture, as crass as it often is, is not the villain. The use of military power exclusively for perceived American interests, and the economic exploitation of less developed nations is what is causing a lot of pain in the world today, and is what justifiably could cause others to hate us. Invading Iraq and causing the death of tens of thousands of Iraqis and the suffering of millions more, is what fosters hatred. Artificially supporting our rich and massive agribusinesses so that Third World farmers can't compete also engenders hatred.
But a lot of the hatred is a legacy of colonialism. Only time will heal those wounds.
Still, there are cultural differences in the aggregate that must be understood and appreciated before the twain of the Middle East and the West can harmoniously meet. Education in the West and particularly in the US is based not on the Qu'ran, as it is in Muslim countries (nor on the Bible), but upon secular histories and the authority not of religious leaders who interpret holy books, but on scientific authority. There is separation of church and state in the West while in Muslim countries typically it is believed that political power comes properly from God and not from the people. While in the West we may be persuaded to think of the Middle East as backward and even evil, that is not part of the classroom instruction. However, a denigration of Western ideas and institutions is part and parcel of Islamic education where the focus is tightly on the teaching of the Qu'ran. We only have that sort of narrow focus in our more conservative religious schools.
These are real cultural differences. When everyone in Saudi Arabia has as much chance to secure a decent living as a Saudi prince, when Iranians can listen without fear to Western music, when Palestinians are represented by politicians that are really working for their benefit instead of playing out revenge scenarios, when the oil profits benefit the people as a whole and not just the ruling classes (or special interests in the West)--in short when everybody has a greater stake in the societies, there will be a lot less hatred, and cultural differences will be seen in a more benign light.
One final thing: LeVine wants the US to declare a truce with Muslim countries. (See page 330 and following.) But even though I agree that the US's "war on terror" is at best a misnomer and at worse a crusade, I don't think declaring a truce makes any sense at all. We are not at war with Islam or Muslims or Muslim countries. To declare a truce would falsely say that we were. Also a declaration that we have sinned in the past (colonialism, etc.) and now apologize is of limited value. We can apologize for the slaughter of Native Americans, for enslaving Africans, even for killing of the Neanderthal if we like. And I suppose Muslims could apologize for forcing innumerable peoples to embrace Islam or else. I don't like any of that sort of thing because I, in particular, enslaved nobody and killed nary a Native American. I cannot apologize for those who did.
What is needed is a declaration of intent to not exploit others or otherwise do nasty things to them. That's what LeVine ought to be calling for.
--Dennis Littrell, author of “The World Is Not as We Think It Is”
November 9, 2019
I never thought a book like this ever would get published, particularly one written by an American. It was great to read through the other side of the story unraveled in the middle east and north Africa (MENA) following 9/11 and the hostilities that was developing between cultures for sometime. The book also reminds us that the other side of the story is never explored and told because history is always told as official version. Readers of Mark Levine's book would no doubt agree that his visions are Utopian in the new world controlled by corporations and governments that are inclined to colonize poor and vulnerable nations using military and trade powers. Regardless, it is a good collection of thoughts for those who are willing to dream about a better world.
May 1, 2007
Levine, who is a history professor at the University of California at Irvine, offers an academically rigorous history of the Middle East and North Africa, drawn from detailed reading of economic data as well as rich personal experience in the area. Perhaps the scene that will stick with me the longest is Levine's account of the Sadr City sheikh, who, in describing his daily work to remove unexploded munitions from the neighborhood in which he lives, said simply, "This is Islam."
March 6, 2015
This was an interesting book and it brought up a lot of issues that are extremely relevant. However the prose was a bit long winded and probably could have been edited down a lot with no detriment to the message
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews