Bernard Lewis’s latest collection of essays, Faith and Power: Religion and Politics in the Middle East (Oxford, 2010), reveals little that is new. Its thirteen chapters (mostly short essays) largely re-iterate what Lewis has written over the last ten to fifteen years in other books and broad narrative histories. Topically they are stimulating for general readers, lacking the depth of his more specialized writings on the same subjects in his numerous other books. Chapter Nine, “Democracy, Legitimacy, and Succession in the Middle East,” (pg. 131-152) addresses similar issues as those frequently considered on this blog. The essay deals with several interesting topics, such as the historical difference between “freedom” (hurriya) and “justice” (ʿadl) and “tyranny” (zulm) and “justice” (ʿadl) in Middle Eastern and western political discourses (pgs. 135-137); the impact of technological and systematic “modernization” on Middle Eastern political culture in the late nineteen and early twentieth centuries; the sources and mechanization of military rule (though he focuses mostly on the Turkish experience); and the problem of succession in the currently and formerly Baʿthist states and the region generally.
Of most interest here are the two effects of “modernization” Lewis offers, the causes and implications of military rule and the issues related to succession. Continue reading
