Scholarly Contributions

MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA

Although Professor Said did not intend to be a Middle East and Africa (MEA) specialist and even consciously avoided such a categorization,¹ he was frequently sought after for his analysis of the regions. He closely tracked MEA issues, applying insights from his broader research to international relations, human rights and development, peace and conflict resolution, and Islam. Officials in the Middle East and North Africa as well as the US government sought his perspective on rapidly changing regional dynamics, existing and emerging conflicts, and how to improve relations between the Western and Muslim worlds. While they did not always follow his advice, his insights proved invaluable for policymakers, reflecting a vision of equality, human rights, and cooperative politics in the region.

In a 1971 chapter titled “Clashing Horizons: Arabs and Revolution,” Said drew on both his training as a political scientist as well as his “memories mixed with pain and tears, for revolution was as much a part of my formative years as Captain Kangaroo and Ranger Hal have been part of my son’s.”² At the time of writing, Said had already “visited almost every Arab country, from Morocco to Iraq, from Lebanon to Yemen. Much has changed,” he observed, “but much has remained the same.”³ From his earliest writings, Said demonstrated the importance of understanding the complex historical context and culture of the region in order to analyze contemporary realities, from the rise and fall of past empires to colonialism, conflicting nationalisms, revolutions, and pan-Arabism.⁴ In a 1969 Washington Post op-ed titled, “Our Mideast Policy is Archaic Colonial,” Said did not mince words: “The record of American foreign policy in the Middle East over the last two decades is a catalogue of failures. The principal cause of this unhappy performance is that the basic assumptions from which U.S. foreign policy proceeded are no longer – and perhaps never were – in tune with contemporary Middle Eastern realities.”⁵ Yet Said practiced “multiple critique”⁶ in his commentary, not just criticizing US policy approaches in the area but also regional actors, while simultaneously promoting positive US foreign policy as well as distributing responsibility to regional parties for locally led democracy and development and conflict resolution. For Said, a shift in perspective was required of all actors to one that embraced fluidity and cooperative politics instead of pursuing an unsustainable status quo in the region.

Throughout the decades he continued to engage in public and citizen diplomacy alongside his scholarship, traveling and lecturing throughout the Middle East and Africa. He was in frequent contact with US government officials and his office convened many back-channel meetings from opposing diplomatic sides in the region. Based on his observations of changing regional dynamics and emerging trends, he continuously updated his recommendations. For instance, in the 1970s and 1980s he focused on the growing prominence of Islamic revivalism across the region, considering the changing nature of Islam and politics and the possibilities of Islam and human rights, as well as more actively supported a diplomatic solution to what he called the “Arab-Israeli-Palestinian” conflict.⁷ Throughout his efforts, Said always exemplified the importance of clear and authentic communication while maintaining continuous engagement across differences, as he sought to understand and help convey the perspectives, needs, and interests from each side.

Said’s efforts to advance understanding of complex issues within both policymaking and academic circles were often closely intertwined. He was a mentor to his student, Masrur Barzani, who became the Prime Minister of the Kurdish Region of Iraq and whose family connections to Said’s family date back to the 1920s. He was also instrumental in convincing former student Sheikh Ghazi Al-Yawar – a leading member of the Shammar tribe that rescued Said’s family in 1936 – to serve as Iraq’s interim President during the mid-2000s. Said was also asked to sponsor a conference at American University (AU) on Iraqi federalism as part of the Bush administration’s Iraq Project on Democracy. He succeeded in bringing together a highly diverse group of influential Iraqis from various ethnic groups, some of whom were meeting for the first time.

Concerned with the escalating dynamics of war following 9/11, Professor Said also convened a conference at AU on the work of 19th century Arab-American writer and philosopher Ameen Fares Rihani. Titled “Ameen Rihani: Bridging East and West,” the conference brought attention to Rihani’s universalistic outlook amidst increasing cultural and political tensions between the US and Arab worlds, and proceedings were published in a 2004 edited volume titled, Ameen Rihani: Bridging East and West: A Pioneering Call for Arab-American Understanding.⁸

With his strong foundation in peace and conflict resolution and understanding of the dynamic role of Islam, Said offered a different perspective from the traditional national security and competitive politics approach to understanding the Middle East. Yet as a foreign-born citizen based in Washington, DC, offering criticism of US foreign policy was not an easy feat, and his advice was not always followed. Nevertheless, his commitment to human rights, peace, and conflict resolution did not waver, and he remained highly respected for his balanced approach and insights. Ultimately, Said called for a new, common vision for the region. In a 2002 paper on the challenges of democratization in the Middle East, he states, “we need a vision in order to avoid drift, self-centeredness, or internecine conflicts. Vision helps countries engage the best imagination and energy of their people and anticipates problems and crises. The presence of vision widens and deepens the sense of mutual responsibility, solidarity and support in the national community, a prerequisite for building a world community.”⁹ Specifically, Said explained that “the likelihood of a successful transition from a relationship of competition and confrontation to one of cooperation will be greater if each affected nation is inspired by a vision of a more stable, peaceful order in the Middle East.”¹⁰

His call for a cooperative relationship and a cooperative politics based on a common vision also applied to relations between the US and Muslim worlds. At a teach-in following 9/11 at AU, during the pain and suffering that many were experiencing, Said focused his remarks on the “need to experience ourselves in relationship, not out of relationship. We need to experience our commonality … so that the suffering we are undergoing has a counterpart in the suffering of those who perpetuated the evil act and the suffering of those who are opposed to it. In other words, our movement has to be from isolation to unity.”¹¹ Even after his retirement, Said remained engaged in regional issues (especially the civil war in Syria, see Conflict Resolution) and continued to be sought after for his perspectives. Although the area is still far from Said’s vision of human rights and cooperative politics, the hope is alive among the thousands he influenced who are still working for peace in the region.

Notes