The "Modern" State in the Middle East: The Need for a Human Face
| dc.contributor.author | Ben-Dor, Gabriel | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2008-08-25T18:01:24Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2008-08-25T18:01:24Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 1993-06 | |
| dc.description.abstract | In my original formulation, I warned against two salient dangers to the state in the region. On the one hand, I felt that a state captivated by a particularistic social force and harnessed to its own radical purposes would be inhuman in pursuing the goals of that force, be it an ethnic group, a tribe, or a religion. The fact that an ethnic group disguises itself in colourful ideological mumbo-jumbo (as is the case of the Baath "party" in Iraq and Syria) does not make matters any better, but only obfuscates the issues. On the other hand, I also felt that if a state attempted to operate in a vacuum, devoid of all social content, it would end up with the deification of the state for its own sake, which I consider a classic case of fascism. In neither case would we have a state structure that is sensitive to the human needs of the population: It would not look after the proper interests of the inhabitants, namely peace, prosperity, security and a sense of dignity and well-being. Indeed, these commodities have been in a short supply in the Middle East, and I am afraid that the Middle Eastern state has not served well the cause of promoting human values. It is this issue that I now would like to explore. | en |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/10315/1420 | |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://www.yorku.ca/yciss/publications/OP16-Ben-Dor.pdf | |
| dc.language.iso | en | en |
| dc.publisher | YCISS | en |
| dc.relation.ispartofseries | Occasional Paper | en |
| dc.relation.ispartofseries | 16 | en |
| dc.rights.uri | http://www.yorku.ca/yciss/ | |
| dc.subject | oriental despotism | en |
| dc.subject | oppression | en |
| dc.subject | stateness | en |
| dc.title | The "Modern" State in the Middle East: The Need for a Human Face | en |
| dc.type | Research Paper | en |