Fred Halliday on Middle East myths

The Times today carries extracts from the ever-readable Professor Fred Halliday’s new book 100 Myths about the Middle East (published by Saqi Books on April 14, £8.99; offer £7.64, call 0870 1608080). Please take a look for yourself but this brief extract gives food for thought.

“The region has, in common with other parts of the world, seen wave on wave of reform — some cautious, some revolutionary, in the decades of the 20th century, including during the Cold War, the rival projects of Arab socialism and the monarchical White Revolution in Iran. This historical record is not designed to deny the possibility of or need for reform, but rather to suggest that any such project has to be generated from within the region itself and may take rather longer to bear fruit than the attention span of external administrations and their speechwriters.”