Writing under the pseudonym Samir al-Khalil, Makiya published the single most important analysis of Saddam Husayn's regime, Republic of Fear (reviewed in ORBIS, Fall 1989), as well as The Monument (ORBIS, Summer 1991), a scathing attack on the totalitarian culture of contemporary Iraq. Makiya revealed his identity in March 1991; since then he writes under his own name.
While still primarily concerned with Iraq-Saddam Husayn's seizure of Kuwait directly occasioned Cruelty and Silence-this study represents an attempt to understand and remedy what "has gone profoundly wrong in the Arab world" as a whole. "Cruelty" takes up the first two-thirds of the book, consisting of five biographical accounts, one Kuwaiti and four Iraqi. Makiya himself sees these stories as "by far" more important than the final third, "Silence," which contains his own views on how things got to this point; but a Western reader is likely to disagree. We've all heard the horror stories in Part One many times before; but Part Two represents a highly informed, caustic, and original attack on the Arab intelligentsia, including such American-based figures as Edward Said, Hisham Sharabi, and Ibrahim Abu Lughod.
Makiya stresses the intelligentsia's "glaring collective failure . . . to evolve a language of rights and democracy to supplement the language of nationalism." In an effort to begin this process, he proposes two steps: stop blaming others for one's own failings; and adopt the aphorism "Put cruelty first" as the premier political slogan. It's sound advice for anyone, but especially so for Middle Easterners.
