(National Journal/Reason) Jonathan Rauch - Intellectual isolation is a widespread Arab phenomenon. According to the UN's 2003 Arab Human Development Report, five times more books are translated annually into Greek, a language spoken by just 11 million people, than into Arabic. No wonder the Arab world and Western-style modernity have collided with a shock. They are virtually strangers. In recent decades the Arab world has been singularly cursed with bad ideas. First came Marxism and its offshoots; then the fascistic nationalism of Nasserism and Baathism; now, radical Islamism. Those ideologies have in common authoritarianism and the suppression of any true private sphere. Instead of withering as they have done in open competition with liberalism, they flourished in the Arab world's relative isolation. "The Internet is a historical opportunity for Arab liberalism," says Pierre Akel, the Lebanese host of metransparent.com. "In the Arab world, much more than in the West, we can genuinely talk of a blog revolution." The Internet provides Arab liberals with the platform and anonymity they need. The UN report notes that in the Arab world - a region of 284 million - a book that sells 5,000 copies qualifies as a best-seller. The Internet, in contrast, makes possible worldwide, instant distribution, at a nearly negligible cost. In the Arab world, the Enlightenment is going online.
2006-04-19 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive