The West in the Arab world, between ennui and ecstasy — The Arabist
▻http://arabist.net/blog/2015/12/16/the-west-in-the-arab-world-between-ennui-and-ecstasy
▻https://static1.squarespace.com/static/4f334481cb12c1acadc57623/5177e444e4b0244b5f673736/5671db02a128e6b1e5437a23/1450336979814/?format=1000w
To outsiders, the Middle East usually is an intellectual object—a place on a map onto which they project their fears, fantasies and interests. But to many it is a home to live and despair in, to flee and to cling to, to loath and to love. When writing for the truly concerned, commentary has become futile: what is there to say that they do not already know? The ideals and hopes we could once believe in have disintegrated as a bewildering array of players wrought destruction, seemingly teaming up in the region’s devastation rather than fighting each other as they claim—let alone seeking solutions.