Some Arab political analysts often seem unclear when they speak about the relations between the West and the Arab and Islamic world. they are often not logical and objective. Perhaps, the lack of clear-cut definitions of such terms as “Arabs” and “the West” are a key factor in making their analyses obscure. These two terms are often used ambiguously, thus any analysis based on these two terms tends to be inaccurate. Any objective analysis should begin by defining these two terms. When we use the term “West” to refer to Western countries as one entity and use “Arabs” or “Muslims” in the same manner, we are making the grave mistake of generalization. It is illogical to view Arabs or Muslims as one entity or say that a certain group of Arabs represents all Arabs. Western writers also make the same mistake of generalization when they talk about Arabs or Muslims. One of the most glaring examples of this is the generalization that the West harms Arabs, thus putting the blame on all Western countries. If we look deeper, we will see that some groups of Arabs could be behind some actions that cause harm to the West and vice versa. The West can be divided into two types in its relations with Arabs — the imperial West and the non-imperial West. The first represents powerful countries that have imperialist goals in the Arab and Islamic world. The second represent the countries in the West which do not have imperialist goals in the Arab and Islamic world. The major imperial Western countries are few in number and they have Western and non-Western allies. It is illogical, therefore, to hold all Western countries generally accountable for the oppression and exploitation by imperialist countries of some Arab countries. In the Arab and Islamic world, we have similar groups such as the regimes which were toppled in the Arab Spring, and others which collaborate with the imperial West to help it achieve its interests in a tradeoff for their support. These groups do not represent the majority of Arabs and Muslims. But some Arab analysts ignore or overlook this fact when they blame the West. They condemn the entire Western world for the harm done in Arab countries by some Western nations. They also overlook the role played by some Arab and Islamic groups in harming their own countries and civilization. This is an illogical way of thinking of some Arab analysts. It appears as if they view clear-cut facts with a blurred vision. Dr. Sadaka Y. Fadhel is a Member of the Shoura Council and Professor of Political Science __
