69 million page views

Economic development by itself will not get Israel accepted

Reader comment on item: Harvard Debates Islam

Submitted by Ian Mordant (United Kingdom), Dec 30, 2005 at 13:52

Dr Pipes observes that numerous American publicists such as Thomas Friedman claim that economic development alone will make Israel acceptable to Palestinians, and other Arab countries. No, its much more complex than that.

The best book on this subject is probably that of Barrington Moore, 'Social Origins of Dictatorship, 1966. Dr Moore observes how vital it was that England go through its capitalist revolution, 1640-1660, for free-speech democracy to develop there, whilst a country like japan, which by 1940 had massive economic development, but had been through such a revolution, allied itself to two other countries with the same form of economci growth, Germany and Italy.

Mussolini in particular is the dominant model for most leaders in West Asia, as the so-called Middle East, should be called. Eg the late Mr Arafat.

In the 1960's and 70's Americans like Mr Friedman also argued that mere economic development would cause apartheid to wither away, but it needed instead sanctions. In that regard, Arab oil plays in the world economy that same role that apartheid gold once played, a crucial similarity between the apartheid and Arab economies, not shared by Israel. It was only when Mr Nixon moved the US off the gold standard in 1971, that sanctions against apartheid gold became thinkable. We've not yet reached that stage with Arab oil - just try imagining advocating sanctions today against Saudi Arabia! We need cheap renewable energy to do that.

Ian Mordant
Dislike
Submitting....

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".

Submit a comment on this item

<< Previous Comment      Next Comment >>

Reader comments (15) on this item

Title Commenter Date Thread
Economic development by itself will not get Israel accepted [236 words]Ian MordantDec 30, 2005 13:5230798
Question for Dr. Pipes on Ayas & Jennifer King's Assertion [135 words]
w/response from Daniel Pipes
Ira KatzDec 30, 2005 00:2730758
yea [32 words]OmarJun 3, 2006 05:5730758
Harvard anno 2005 : A mind is a terrible thing to use [40 words]Ben van de PolderDec 28, 2005 23:3930717
Harvard Sinks Even Lower [34 words]Always On WatchDec 27, 2005 13:1230640
2 comments [36 words]tom dykhuizenDec 27, 2005 02:0930614
Harvard debates Islam [108 words]William PapkeDec 26, 2005 23:4230608
Harvard Debates Islam [90 words]
w/response from Daniel Pipes
shoshana pughDec 26, 2005 18:2230591
1There is Only One Doctrine in Islam [494 words]
w/response from Daniel Pipes
Luther R. LloydDec 30, 2005 17:1430591
An Open Letter To Doug Gavel [612 words]Dale EvansDec 26, 2005 17:5830589
For Ms Jennifer King and her Comments on Islam [18 words]Karam Chand RamrakhaDec 26, 2005 17:4030586
5ISLAM & DECEIT [342 words]Jennifer King [AGAIN!]Dec 27, 2005 12:2630586
Quran 5:41 [47 words]Luther R. LloydDec 31, 2005 10:3930586
a true joke [169 words]jlkOct 11, 2006 00:3030586
bla, bla , bla , bla [27 words]ralph shapiroDec 26, 2005 14:5830575

Follow Daniel Pipes

Facebook   Twitter   RSS   Join Mailing List

All materials by Daniel Pipes on this site: © 1968-2024 Daniel Pipes. daniel.pipes@gmail.com and @DanielPipes

Support Daniel Pipes' work with a tax-deductible donation to the Middle East Forum.Daniel J. Pipes

(The MEF is a publicly supported, nonprofit organization under section 501(c)3 of the Internal Revenue Code.

Contributions are tax deductible to the full extent allowed by law. Tax-ID 23-774-9796, approved Apr. 27, 1998.

For more information, view our IRS letter of determination.)