Word: arabized
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...noble but naive notion. The Arab haves, which were threatened by Saddam, are not especially happy with most of the have-nots -- Jordan, Yemen, the Palestinians and the Sudan, all of whom cheered the Iraqi invader. The exceptions are Egypt and Syria, which are likely to receive rewards -- for their help in defeating Saddam, not for the misfortune of being impoverished...
With war costs to pay off and with low oil prices, the victorious gulf states are not much interested in sharing their wealth. At a recent meeting in Cairo, they asserted the necessity of "respecting the sovereignty of each Arab country over its own natural resources." Translation: Don't covet your neighbor's oil. The statement was evidence of just how worn the ideal of Arab unity is -- the notion that all Arabs are one nation so the gulf oil belongs...
...democracy likely to follow in the wake of the war as a means of strengthening Arab societies against radicalism. The hope was that the new Kuwait would lead the way, but the royal family appears less keen about liberalization now than it did when it was courting international support from exile. For their part, Saudi Arabia's King Fahd and the Sultan of Oman, Qaboos bin Said, have promised to create only consultative councils, not parliaments. The U.S. is unlikely to push democratization, knowing fundamentalists are best organized to take advantage...
Fairy tales in the West begin, "Once upon a time." In the Arab world they start, "Kan ya makan." The words mean "There was, there was not." That is, maybe it happened. On the other hand, maybe it didn't happen...
...swim in his own blood, then words have pre-empted the work of armies. Ambiguity has an ancient history in the West, but the Middle East has its special genius for mirage. There, the dreariest, basest impulses go dressed up in poetry. Aggressive greed may swagger around as jihad. "Arab dignity and honor" shine in the mind with a radiant life of their own, forever beleaguered and violated and crying for revenge -- visions really, not things to be struggled toward, to be earned...