Culture and Conflict in the Middle East
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 First edition cover | |
| Author | Philip Carl Salzman |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Subject | Middle Eastern studies, conflict management, anthropology |
| Genre | Non-fiction |
| Publisher | Humanities Press (Humanity Books) |
Publication date | December 31, 2007 |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover) |
| Pages | 224 |
| ISBN | 978-1-59102-587-0 |
Culture and Conflict in the Middle East is a 2008 book by Philip Carl Salzman, an emeritus professor of Anthropology at McGill University and senior fellow of the Frontier Centre for Public Policy, a Canadian thinktank associated with free-market, conservative political thought.
Culture and Conflict is an attempt to understand Middle Eastern politics and society as an outcome of the fact that tribal organization are central to Arab culture.[1]
According to Salzman, tribes conceptualized as the descendants of a common ancestor on the male line will combine their resources with other closely related relatives against more distant ones, and the whole tribe will then stand together against outsiders. This tribal framework renders it nearly impossible to have a constitution or a regime of law and order, thereby "generating a society where all groups are on an equal basis." Tribal members "are loyal only to their groups."[2]
Tribal loyalties are said by one commentator drawing on Salzman's work to "create a complex pattern of tribal autonomy and tyrannical centralism that obstructs the development of constitutionalism, the rule of law, citizenship, gender equality, and the other prerequisites of a democratic state. Not until this archaic social system based on the family is dispatched can democracy make real headway in the Middle East."[3]
The book examines two key systems: "balanced opposition" and "affiliation solidarity".[4][5]
Balanced Opposition
- Balanced Opposition: A cultural value where individuals and groups maintain a delicate balance between opposing forces, often through a complex system of alliances, rivalries, and negotiations. This balance prevents one single group from becoming too strong.
Affiliation Solidarity
- Affiliation Solidarity: A cultural tendency to prioritize loyalty and support for those who are socially closer, over those who are more distant, leading to a system of alliances and rivalries based on familial proximity rather than abstract principles.
One aspect of these two systems is "collective responsibility" where one small group is required to defend itself from another small group. In a confrontation, a small group faces a small group, but this escalates based on the size of the groups from "family" up to the entire "Islamic community (umma)".[5]
Salzman describes the hierarchy as:
- family vs. family
- lineage vs. lineage
- clan vs. clan
- tribe vs. tribe
- confederacy vs. confederacy
- sect vs. sect.
- the Islamic community (umma) vs. the infidels
The book quotes a common Arab phrase, "I against my brothers; my brothers and I against our cousins; my brothers and cousins and I against the world."[5][6]