The Arab Cocoon: Progress and Modernity in Arab Societies

In The Arab Cocoon, author Tarek Heggy explores the reasons behind the widespread refusal of Arabic-speaking societies to join in the march towards modernity and progress. The refusal, according to Heggy, is due to three constraints, namely: (1) a widespread anti-modernity and anti-integration religious Islamic movement; (2) out-dated educational systems; and (3) unhealthy hatred of the ‘other’. He suggests that the systematic rejection of modernity and progress which has resulted from these three constraints is the direct cause for the confrontation between most of the Arabic-speaking peoples and the West. It ensures that Arab culture, people, and their mentality are unable to integrate in the march of civilization, based on progress and modernity. Very little - if anything - has been written in depth on the Arab culture and mind. Writing in an informative and accessible style, Tarek Heggy offers the depth needed to understand and deal with this expanding antimodernity culture, and consequently reduce clashes between the Arab and Western worlds.