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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Nadine Carroll who wrote (112564)	8/24/2003 7:57:03 PM
From: Jacob Snyder	Read Replies (4) \| Respond to of 281500

re: Taking Arabs seriously: <No outsider can pierce the comforting wall of conspiratorial lies that the Arabs have surrounded themselves with> It is crucial, in understanding international relations, to understand that all nations have created National Myths for themselves, which exert great influence on thinking and acting. These Myths are extremely durable. It takes a "near-death" experience, for a nation to re-evaluate their core Myths. Most people can easily see the ahistorical absurdities, the internal contradictions, in these Myths. But only in other people's Myths. To our own Myths, we are almost universally blind. Our own Myths are accepted as natural, normal, self-evident. Typically, we angrily reject any foreign criticism of our Myths. So, you are right, the public and elites in Arab nations overwhelmingly believe Myths that you can easily see are nonsense. What you don't see, is that your own dearly held Myths are equally nonsense, and equally self-destructive.