Tools for Preparing the New Arab Economic Turn
Let us conclude this series of articles on the necessity of working toward a new Arab economic turn. We have outlined some of its foundations, starting points, objectives, and its interaction with the Arab reality on one hand, and with what is proposed and implemented globally on the other. We conclude by posing the following question: Who are the instrumental forces that will formulate a comprehensive, detailed strategy for this turn, making it an Arab struggle goal and an integral part of the Arab renaissance project that has been proposed for several decades by certain thinkers and Arab nationalist think tanks?
We had hoped that the summits of ruling regimes would adopt this project and entrust its formulation to a select group of relevant officials, thinkers, and activists engaged in Arab civil society institutions, who would then adopt it as a shared Arab strategy. This is especially given that similar attempts were previously adopted under the umbrella of the Arab League in the 1980s, but unfortunately stalled at the time. Consequently, we harbor doubts about the ability of these official institutions to undertake this task, due to the state of the Arab Summit institution, the Arab League, and their significantly diminished political will over the past four decades. This decline has been driven by divisions, conflicts, external allegiances, and the entry of the Zionist entity as an influential and disruptive player in common Arab affairs and institutions.
Until these official institutions of Arab common action recover in the future and regain their sovereign national will, we need to examine the possibility of other non-official entities capable of adopting this turn as a political slogan in their various struggles and at all levels. In my view, the entity capable of adopting and striving for its implementation, even if through cumulative, gradual steps, will be the coordinated, cooperative Arab popular bloc composed of groups from Arab civil society institutions. This includes political parties, labor unions, professional and community associations, and distinguished individuals whose stances and activities are notable. This bloc closely resembles the "historical bloc" proposed by the renowned Italian leftist activist, Gramsci, more than eight decades ago.
If such a struggle bloc were to emerge, God willing, and adopt the slogans of the renaissance project—including the slogan of the turn, which we have discussed in many of its aspects across several articles over the past weeks—and embrace it as a continuous, escalating, and cumulative struggle slogan, it would help convince Arab ruling regimes to adopt it as well. They would then view it as one of the keys to Arab progress and to the exit of all Arab countries from the state of backwardness that Arabs and Muslims have lived in for several centuries.
Nevertheless, let us point to some cautions and requirements that must be studied in parallel with the efforts of those civil and official entities undertaking this complex and difficult task. For instance, it will not be easy to prevent the new Arab economic thought from falling under the influence of European and American theoretical approaches in the field of economic science, given the multitude of contradictions and schools of thought therein. It is well known that the study of the causes of the Industrial Revolution opened the door to the production of encyclopedic economic literature in those two regions. In contrast, Arab countries have not yet entered their own industrial revolution, and thus cannot yet benefit from its lessons, experiences, and some of its scientific and practical entry points. Indeed, much of that literature has remained largely unstudied or unassimilated in the Arab world.
Even if one seeks to benefit from the growth experiences and economic thought of Asian countries such as Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and more recently China, George Corm emphasizes that modern Arab thought has not addressed this phenomenon with serious studies, nor has it developed qualitative knowledge of the mechanisms that allowed those Asian countries to escape economic backwardness in the impressive manner witnessed by the whole world.
Thus, the task we are discussing—a historical, civilizational, and existential mission—will not be easy or transient. Nor is it fundamentally a task for economic specialists alone. It will require the cooperation of specialists in the broad social sciences with specialists in natural and technological sciences in their various forms. However, if the will and determination are genuine, nothing will be difficult.
