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August 20, 2017 23 Culture Books BOOK REVIEW Algeria’s ‘human dust’ proves extraordinarily resilient n the two decades after the of the countries of Europe but it colonialism and the depredations fury of war, revolution and more fall of Granada in 1492, the was “rhetorical and symbolic, part of authoritarianism” after inde- recently civil war, their history in Spanish crusade against of the regime’s ideology, an attach- pendence. this account illustrates “the quiet Muslims encroached on the ment to its origins… like Malta, in McDougall described the con- endurance of a resilient society, one North African coast. The the golden age of privateering,” stant interplay of social forces with whose ancestral inheritance ‘today, Francis Ghilès Algerian ports of Oran and McDougall wrote in “A History of the institutions of state in “what tomorrow, still lives’ and with is an associate fellow at Bejaia fell in 1507 and Algeria.” in fact has been an extraordinarily which, above all, its people want to the Barcelona Centre for IEmperor Charles V captured Tunis Nor was the Ottoman regency robust, resilient society.” live in peace.” International Affairs. in 1534. the foundation of a modern, Arab “A History of Algeria” is a su- The aftermath of 9/11 has encour- In 1510, the notables of what and Islamic Algerian nation-state as perbly written narrative that puts aged stereotypical ideas about was then a very small port sued for the country’s popular opinion after the people of this complex country Islam and Muslim societies but peace and conceded the islands independence in 1962 would make centre stage. They are not merely McDougall avoided the often “pre- just off Algiers, the Penon, which us believe. a template for a modern anti-Sem- scriptive schemes of ‘national wak- was garrisoned by Don Pedro de Ottoman Algeria was an over- itism (the worst anti-Jewish riots ening’, Western-style free-market Navarro. In desperation, they whelmingly rural society struc- during the Dreyfus Affair occurred democracy or the ‘Islamic Repub- turned to Ottoman adventurers, the tured around towns and tribes in Algiers), for French colonialism lic’” so beloved of many academics Barbarossa brothers, and repelled a scattered over a vast area with more broadly or for Frantz Fanon’s and journalists. massive Spanish attack on Algiers porous borders. The few thousand Third Worldism. Nor, despite recent The final chapters on the brave, in 1519. Ottoman Janissaries never held speculation, are they likely to col- but ultimately failed, attempt to Having offered the sovereignty millions of natives in permanent lapse into anarchy because nobody usher in bold political and econom- of his little kingdom to Ottoman subjection and society, for all its knows who will succeed an ailing ic reforms after the riots of October Sultan Khayr al-Din, Barbarossa divisions of status, was often meri- President Abdelaziz Bouteflika. 1988 — reforms that questioned the defeated a 516-ship Spanish attack tocratic as well as multilingual and Algeria, McDougall argued, is not legitimacy of Algerian leaders for on Algiers in 1541. This momentous multi-confessional. For example, inhabited by some secret trauma of the first time since 1962 — should defeat prompted the retreat of there was often little to mark the colonisation nor by any particular be mandatory reading for any Spain from the North African coast Jewish population apart from their “hatred” of France. Its recent past analyst of Middle East affairs. They east of Oran and turned a precari- Muslim neighbours as residential — the civil war of the 1990s — was offer an unusually balanced and ous small town into an invincible areas were usually not exclusive neither caused by colonial-era trau- fair analysis of a president, Chadli city whose navy would mount and, in many respects, they were mas nor by a hatred of the coloniser Bendjedid, who faced mounting its own raids across the Western indistinguishable from other that was subsequently turned in on domestic crises in the economy and Mediterranean and as far as Ireland, classes of society. themselves. in society. Devon and Iceland for the next McDougall com- The author noted how women These crises had to be addressed century. bined an anthropo- in Oran, where the summer of in a rapidly worsening international History thus offered the first logical approach independence in context. It was the conjuncture of template of how Europeans would and historical 1962 was particu- world oil prices and international view Algeria — “a nest of wasps,” methodology larly bloody, “still credit markets, rather than any the fantastic and sexualised centre to puncture the climb up to the violence or instability inherent in of corsair piracy: Exotic, dramatic other stereotypes church the settlers Algerian society or politics, that and violent. that have be- built… in 1959, would make them unmanageable. In his layered account of 500 devilled serious at Santa Cruz, to The first “Arab spring” of 1988-89 years of Algerian history, James understanding light candles to lalla collapsed into a vicious civil war by McDougall wrote that “privateer- of a society the Maryam, the Virgin 1992. Had academics and journal- ing” soon became less important French Gen- whose statue still ists bothered to remember what for plunder and for slavery than for eral Charles looks benignly over happened in Algeria in the 1990s, guaranteeing treaties of peace from de Gaulle their city from the they would have been less naïve other seafaring states, securing dismissed as mountaintop.” about the likely outcome of the income from tributary payments. a poussière There are numer- Arab revolts in 2011. In the 1700s, it was outstripped d’hommes — ous other examples While attempts to democratise While attempts to by increased agricultural produc- dust of men of how the Algerians countries in the Arab world will democratise tion and trade revenue, especially — disaggre- have appropriated such persist, the lack of a liberal tradi- countries in the from exports of wheat to Europe. gated and parts of their landscape tion and a modern socio-economic Napoleon Bonaparte’s troops were anarchic, and their past. More infrastructure in countries where Arab world will fed on Algerian wheat when they unyield- than the sound and tribal affiliations still play an impor- persist, the lack of a invaded Italy in 1798. ing in its tant role and religious and ethnic liberal tradition will The image of Algiers as dar-al- resistance Cover of “A cleavages persist will make such a jihad — “bastion of war” — en- to social and insti- History of Algeria” process limited. It will be a gradual make such a process dured even when it was at peace tutional ties, “reduced to helpless by James McDougall. process in Algeria, as it will be else- limited. and profitably trading with most prostration before the ravages of where in the Arab world. BOOK REVIEW ‘Why America Misunderstands the World’ by Paul R. Pillar s a member of the the dominant theme with neither population. Some of the most fertile defence of Israel is similarly tied to CIA for 28 years, adversary posing any significant soil in the world, large coal deposits historical narrative, Pillar wrote. Paul R. Pillar made a threat. Victory on the southern bor- and vast resource-rich forests cover Similarities between the two coun- career of under- der in 1846 was swift, culminating North America, the acquisition of tries’ experiences of building a na- standing the in the United States annexing huge which came rather easily, either tion driven by a divine will fosters a Ibraheem Juburi underlying ration- amounts of territory and ultimately via relatively swift conflicts or by misinformed image of the Palestin- is a London-based correspondent ale behind foreign closing off further conflict. exchange. ian struggle. “There never has been of The Arab Weekly. governments’A actions. Canada’s sovereign power Britain The great fortune of having talk of a ‘two-state solution’ involv- In his book, “Why America Mis- posed some concern. However, the successfully inhabited a relatively ing Native Americans,” Pillar said. understands the World: National War of 1812 along the US-Canadian sparsely populated and nutritious Asked whether globalisation and Experience and Roots of Mispercep- frontier proved more of an oppor- land combined with the Christian technological innovation were im- tion,” Pillar points his analytical tunity than a crisis for the United narrative essential to American psy- proving US foreign policy, Pillar said lens at his own country in a well- States and after three years ended chology — despite being firmly re- “fake news” is proving a hindrance. thought-out examination of the with a resounding American victory. moved from politics by its founding “Access to bad information has United States’ distinct history and What followed were 100 years of fathers — yields the self-image of a expanded at least as much, and its psychological, policy-shaping existence without interference from chosen people upon which God has probably more, than access to valid consequences. overseas forces. bestowed extraordinary privilege. information,” Pillar said by e-mail. The book’s premise is that a coun- “This century of immunity This explains why Americans As US President Donald Trump try’s experiences inevitably colour profoundly influenced how Ameri- tend to view themselves as “pure of begins to unveil his attitude towards its citizens’ shared perception of cans think about national security heart, consistently well intentioned the world beyond the ocean moats, their role in the world and about threats that one nation and consistently beneficial in their Pillar said he sees traces of the same and the nature of their can pose to influence” in the global scene, Pillar old American prejudices. neighbours and foes. another,” said. “Particularly prominent in Pillar highlights two he wrote , The book does an excellent job of Trump’s foreign policy is the ten- characteristics of US highlight- linking specific national sentiments dency to see the world in sharply history that serve as ing the to misunderstandings that manifest divided, good-versus-evil terms that precursors to what he resulting in bad foreign policy.