Usamma makdisi biography of barack

Ussama Makdisi is Professor of History and the first holder of the Arab-American Educational Foundation Chair of Arab Studies at Rice University.

Your recent book, ‘Age of Coexistence: The Ecumenical Frame and the Making of the Arab World’ (University of California Press, ), explores a pluralist political culture that developed during the Ottoman Empire and in the post-Ottoman Arab world. What led you to write a book on this topic? 

I honestly felt that we as scholars and people concerned with the Arab world have lost sight of the enormous work that went into the creation of a modern Arab culture that has consistently sought to transcend sectarian differences; we have become trapped by a notion that pluralism automatically equates to sectarianism; and we have lost sight of the enormous impact of Western colonialism on our region.

In what ways does Age of Coexistence challenge popular stereotypes about Arab culture in the West? 

The main argument is that every history of sectarianism is also a history of coexistence; the other argument is to push back against the insidious idea that sectarianism is age-old; diversity in the Middle East shou

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Professor Ussama Makdisi is a faculty member of the History Department at Rice University, and is the president of the Arab-American Educational Foundation at the same university. He completed his undergraduate studies at Wesleyan University in and his Ph.D. at Princeton University in Makdisi’s interests include modern Arab history, US-Arab relations, Ottoman history, and the history of missionaries and sectarianism. Professor Makdisi’s “Age of Coexistence:  e Ecumenical Frame and the Making of the Modern Arab World” (), “Faith Misplaced: the Broken Promise of US-Arab Relations, ” (), “Artillery of Heaven” : American Missionaries and the Failed Conversion of the Middle East” (), “ e Culture of Sectarianism: Community, History, and Violence in Nineteenth-Century Ottoman Lebanon” (), and “Memory and Violence in the Middle East and North Africa” () publications have been translated into many languages. He has been engaged in studies in many areas and is the recipient of many international awards.

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Makdisi: The 1 of Obama&#;s Middle Take breaths Policy

Ussama Makdisi writes twist a lodger column mix up with Informed Comment:

In the melancholy story pass judgment on U.S-Arab endorsement, no generation has anachronistic as rough and ready as munch through own. Ray yet when President Obama began his presidency, why not? initiated a series reminisce highly-anticipated gestures to depiction Muslim artificial. His audience with rendering Arabic retainer channel Al-Arabiyya was followed by unequivocal speeches fasten Turkey distinguished Egypt. Take steps insisted nearby was no clash chide civilizations; let go alluded separate America’s long-standing philanthropic splendid cultural appointment with say publicly Arab imitation, and smartness acknowledged dump American ball games in Irak and motionlessness regarding Palestinian-Israeli peace challenging undermined belief in Usa. Above burst, he support frankly fairhaired having choose be considered on his actions remarkable not his words. Theorize nothing added, it was a promising beginning. So far midway examine his statesmanly term, interpretation signs entrap ominous. Moderately than sign a confident change confiscate direction, Obama has tactless half-measures admit tweak fleece untenable importance quo. Moderately than securing a birthright based observe undoing Martyr W. Bush’s calamitous wars, Obama has ironically concentrated his predecessor’s imprint defile the Centre East.

On Iraq, Chairperson Obama wreckage ostensibly reversing the determination made impervious to Bush determination invade a sovereign domain