Honor, Hatred, and America's Middle East

September 2003 · Historically Speaking1 3 twenty-four 55-minutesegments, theseprograms mustbeusedwithcautionbutarevaluable. They do a goodjob ofshowingthe landscape andbuilt environment ofthe various main sections ofthe classic Silk Road—from Chang'an to Rome— and they give a good idea ofthe rigors oftravel along these routes. Additionally, they introduce theviewertothe peoples and cultures thattoday are found along the pathways and lands of the ancient SilkRoad—some ofwhichhave changed little since the days when the Silk Road flourished . All too often, however, one feels that history is being compromised in favor ofpolitical, aesthetic, and commercial concerns. CD-Roms McGraw-Hill has released an interactive CD-Rom entitled Tracing the Silk Roads (2003), which attempts to teach basic historical skills within the context of a general overview of the Silk Road. Although itreproduces some interesting documents and artifacts for studentinterpretation , they are too few and diverse to allow for in-depth analysis. This program best suits the needs ofsecondary schools. TheAsia SocietyofNewYorkhas produced aprototype fora SilkRoad CD-Rom. Entided^oarneysalongthe SilkRoads: Cross-CulturalEncounter and Exchange, when completed it will examine the influence ofthe Silk Road(s) through the stories offourtravelers: LadyWenji, a 2nd-century CE. Chinese noblewoman; Xuanzang; Marco Polo; and Albert von Le Coq, an early 20th-century German explorer and archaeologist . Work on it is unfinished, and The Asia Society has no timeline for its completion. In its current state it offers some images and a bit ofbasic information, but that is all. A copy can be obtained for$6 from the Education Department ofThe Asia Society: (2 12) 288-6400. Honor, Hatred, and America's Middle East Bertram Wyatt-Brown In light of the perilous situation we face in dealing with foes bent on liquidating American power, national authorities and the public at large must acquire a greater comprehension ofhow those enemies think and whytheir hatreds consume them. In fact, some leaders have begun to recognize the hazards of our cultural illiteracy. Senator Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, for instance, observes: "America will require a wider-lens view ofhow the world sees us, so that we can better understand the world, and our role in it."1 This is especially true for U.S. relations with the populations and governments ofthe Middle East. Sadly, our apprehension ofthese countries and their cultures, religious divisions , and ethical conventions is woefully inadequate. For years the U.S. intelligence services misunderstood the perils ofreligious extremism in the Arab world. One former officer recalled that throughout the 1990s his fellowmembers ofthe securityagencieswere told that religious factors had to be considered "soft and nebulous—as well as potentially embarrassing in those years ofepidemic political correctness." Forced by the recent tragic events, the American military, secret services, and State Department authorities at lasthave become all too aware ofWahabbism, the extremist Arab fundamentalism, along with the particularities ofthe Shiire and Sunni branches of Muslim faiths. But the crucial role ofhonor in Middle Eastern societies has been largelyunacknowledged despite its pervasiveness and motivating potency. The ethic of honor serves as the fundamental system ofjustice in communities and nations where civil society has few institutions and where the rule ofjurisprudence of a more elaborate and objective character exists only weakly or not at all. Under these circumstances, honor is not perceived as an ideal ofupright individualism. Rather, the possessor of honor has maintained or achieved a highreputation in the public arena for his martialvalor, familial loyalty, and male protectiveness and authorityoverpossessions both material and human, that is, his female dependents and offspring. Upon his arms and that ofhis tribe or clan rests the security of his household. Much has been written lately about "honor killings" in the Near East. Women, whetherraped, seduced, orsexuallyaberrant, may be slain by their husbands, brothers, or fathers. Such murders restore a family's honor in the eyes ofthe community, an ideal to be venerated above all else. According to an Associated Press report dated May 31, 2003, an aged rural Iraqi father inanguishmourned not the death of his daughter, a suicide bomber against theAmerican occupiers, but her own, her tribe's, and her family's resulting disgrace. She had secretlyleftthe house alone without patriarchal permission. All the villagers knew it. Thatpublic humiliation mattered more than the act...