The Mistaken Arab Experience

In the NY Times, Reason Contributing Editor Michael Young limns one of the most destructive dynamics at work in the Middle East:

That the [recently signed Geneva Accord] should have provoked such anger, but also interest, highlights a deeper problem in the Arab world: for all its centrality to the Arab experience during the past half-century, and for all the justifiable grievances it has aroused, the Palestinian fight for self-determination has, in many respects, rendered the Arab world impotent. Through overriding attention to the fate of their Palestinian brethren, Arabs ? whether consciously or not ? have sacrificed much-needed political, social and economic advancement in other domains.

Read the whole thing here.