Arabia at Crossroads: Arab People Strive for Freedom, Peace and New Leadership, VDM Publishing, Germany, September 2011.  ISBN 978-3-639-37261-8

Mahboob A. Khawaja, Ph.D.

The book offers stunning new discoveries and forbidden insights interwoven in the social and political uprising against the authoritarian Arab rulers who live in palaces, not with people and are assessed as insane egomaniacs and mindless puppets of the US - European political and security hegemonic interests in a peak-oil age to ensure the much needed oil supplies to the Western lifelines industrial-military complexes. Ruthless dictators, kings, self-made presidents, prince and Ameers enjoy free hand and power to control the minds of the people. Consequently, the “fear” game is outcome of the institutionalized secretive police apparatus to kidnap, torture and kill people opposing the authoritarianism. The neo-colonial rulers enhanced secularism through collaborative economic developments plans of the Western experts and hired agents of influence with the clear aim to divide and rule the people and to keep the herd under manipulative tribal control. Islam professed unity of the Arab people into a progressive civilization but the rulers pursuing secularism and the economic development plans and likewise the Western leaders denied recognition and respect to the Arab people being of reason, civilized and intelligent enough to challenge the multifaceted tyranny of authoritarianism.  Islamic civilization craved knowledge, inventions, progress and peace for  eight centuries in Europe and made knowledge-based contributions to the European Renaissance and modern industrial developments but the oil producing egomaniac Arab rulers ignored Islam and fell in disgrace on all the major fronts of human endeavors. 

The introduction of the book visualizes the scenes and progressive political developments, how the Arab people have acquired courage and determination to reject authoritarianism and dismantle the “fear” barriers to make headways for a new future different than slavery and subjugation of the few. Ironically, the people’s movements favored by the Western news media speak the language of human conscience, political imagination and need of the time to seek peaceful change and freedom from tyranny.  A revulsion to the fear of tyranny, people’s courage and zeal for change helped by internet, cell phones, facebook, and twitter shows life and optimism for change and freedom. The Arab rulers and the common folks appear to be living in two different worlds - conflicting time zones between the people and the palaces, and are unable to see the prevalent political realities challenging the individualistic absolutism and reshaping the present and carving out anew future of the Arab world. The Western economic development plans failed to create new “imaginative prosperous communities” except Arabian full interdependence and corruption called business as usual and has stolen the time and opportunities of the Arab masses to think on their own and change and reform the neo-colonial system of governance.  Peace and conflict management is central to the Middle East politics but the Arab rulers neglected to establish any institutions of peacemaking, conflict analysis and conflict resolution or to offer clear strategy on Palestine. Over the sixty years of time span, Arab authoritarian dictators have accumulated the problems without making any conscious attempt to resolve any. The Western intelligence operatives helped to shape the Arab accomplices a culture of interdependence devoid of thinking and capacity to rational policy making and outlook in global affairs. These divergent schemes of things have incapacitated the Arab elite and public to think rationally and utilize time and opportunities for human development and evolution of Arabian valued-based culture and sustainable future.  

The author provides brilliant consideration of challenging new topics and critical analysis of the Western enhanced militarization of the Arabian societies in direct support of the anarchy of authoritarianism and cancerous ego and divided consciousness of the ruling elite. The Bush led “War on Terrorism” is viewed as a war against Islam and it further heightened tensions between the common people and the rulers.  Islam is emerging a solid force of unity and purpose against the anarchy of neo-colonialism. Western policy makers are surprised at the organization and objectivity of the people’s freedom movement that lay out evidence of effectiveness and success against all the monsters of history to be found amongst the absolute rulers. Change is irreversible but the rulers are using brutal force to arrest the momentum of new freedom. The author is gifted with expertise in global security, peace and conflict resolution and first-hand knowledge and experience of the Arab world and contributes new knowledge and hard evidence on corruption operatives and critical analysis of the current events shaping the Arab Middle East for anew and changed future, free of individualistic absolutism and conducive to peaceful change and emerging new educated and intelligent leaders in the Arab world.   The end game, success is visible on the people’s horizon but absolute rulers must exit without oil generated stolen wealth but nobody knows how?

The compelling realities reflecting human perspectives and values demand NEW THINKING, NEW PROACTIVE VISIONARY LEADERSHIP, NEW  STRATEGIES and PLANS to deal with sensitive issues of  the 21^st century politics, individual absolutism, human freedom and justice and cross-cultural conflicts. There are countless issues to be addressed across the socially, economically and political broken, dysfunctional and sometimes badly ruptured Arab societal landscape:

• Would the oil enriched Arab world look as same or different in months and year ahead?
• How would the West deal with the new age educated, intelligent and people-oriented leaders of the Arab world?
• Would the authoritarianism disappear all together or remain active in some form or shape in the Arab societies?
• Would there be any meeting place to redirect the focus of Western intransigence-political hegemony and the flexibility of the emerging new leadership to evolve a culture of improved relationships and work for sustainable future - free of animosity and warfare?
• Would the people’ revolutionary movements be able to transform the revolutionary zeal and aims unto workable political transformation, economic transformation and deliver social justice, moral and intellectual products and services to the masses having been incapacitated by the tyranny of militarization, “fear” games and economic inequality imposed on the traditional and Islamic valued culture of the Arab Middle East?

The book attempts to respond to some of these vital questions in contemporary global affairs. In other chaotic situations, the author shares new vision and rescuing strategies for anew future in waiting, free of authoritarianism and foreign intransigence and intervention.