Diner (Beyond the Conceivable
) offers an unsettling “intervention” into why the Middle East is “falling behind” and deprived of “the fruits of modernity.” While the book raises worthy questions, they are undermined by the author's apparent contempt for both Arabs and Islam. Diner's refusal to acknowledge the extent to which outside factors have played a role in the development of the modern Middle East, his apparent scorn for the faith of a billion people and his occasional lapses into ahistorical judgment (dispensing with centuries of centralized Ottoman rule, for instance, by asserting that because Turkey and the Arab countries were once part of the Ottoman Empire “we can assume that they started out from similar, or even identical, conditions for development”) mean that this book will more likely become the source of angry argument than serious deliberation. Few cultures or faith communities would take kindly to Diner's suggestion that “the West, as a burning preoccupation, might be able to enlighten Middle Easterners about themselves.” (Feb.)
