Mohammed Ali Al Mahmoud, Arabs and the Democratic Dream: The Conflict of Modernity and Heritage in Arab Political Consciousness (Beirut: Arab Publishing Corporation, 2017). 440 pp. ISBN 978-995-393-088-6.

This book assumes that Arab citizens dream of democracy, regarding it as the highest manifestation of political visions, aspired to by all the speeches of freedom, but that they are not aware of how to reconcile the conflicting values of modernity with those of heritage. On the one hand, they call for liberation and democracy. On the other hand, they adhere to doctrinal literature that contradicting democratic values and charges others with atheism.

Thus, Arabs may praise Enlightenment achievements and values, but they do not hesitate to criticize Western culture as an alienation, and a subversive invasion of infidelity and atheism. They are attracted by an inner force that magnifies the qualities of oppression, intolerance, and authoritarian values, despite their interest in...

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