What is the core theme of the Arab critical thinkers that you write about?
Elizabeth Kassab: Most of the themes that these thinkers are busying [themselves] with have been there for a long time in the Arab world, since the Nahda [ “renaissance” or “awakening”] in the 19th century. You have these questions on why others have progressed while we have not. What’s wrong with us that we are not able to achieve independence, development or democracy? And this sense has been there for about 150 years, and as the [21st] century progresses, you are less and less hopeful of achieving them, unfortunately… because I think the 20th century has been very discouraging for Arabs after the struggles against colonialism, against the British and the French mandate, and against the establishment of the state of Israel. What is the cause of “Arab malaise” according to these thinkers? Elizabeth Kassab: For a long time, people tried to give a cultural explanation for the [Arab] cultural malaise: There is something flawed in our culture, so we need to fix our culture to fix our situ
