Anglo-Arab Attitudes
OF these two books, which record the impressions of their authors gathered on recent journeys to the Middle East, the better is undoubtedly Mr. Johnson's. It is lively and well written, it takes trouble and manages to hold the reader with a sustained and interesting argument. Mr. Johnson has no doubt that the Middle East today is an unpleasant place. Iraq is a country of darns and dungeons, Jordan a schizophrenic kingdom, Saud America's broken puppet, and oil the fuel of dis- trust. By and large, he is quite right; and since, unfortunately, this country has interests in the region, it is better that English readers should know with whom they are dealing, and not be lulled by the illusions spread for years by en- thusiasts and optimists. But Mr. Johnson will not leave well alone. Against the day of a Labour victory, he would here provide a blueprint for Labour in office. One or two of his suggestions are perhaps a little whimsical, as when he proposes to assemble Arab Socialists in annual summer schools, no doubt for them to imbibe simultan- eously the benign influences of British Labour and the English countryside. But what he substan- tially suggests is that Britain under Labour should become the patron of Arab nationalism. This, how- ever, will really not do. Britain under Labour, as Britain under'the Conservatives, will have the grim and disheartening task of defending in the Middle East vital interests against wily enemies and worse friends. This is enough for any government, with- out attempting to patronise chimeras and to make friends with shadows. Besides, what have British governments been doing since 1918, except to patronise Arab nationalism, and what good has it ever done them?
The subtitle of Mr. Nutting's slight volume is The Aftermath of Suez.' But to read him, we might well imagine ourselves somewhere before the prelude, with nothing learnt and nothing for- gotten. The book begins with a visit to North Africa, and here is Mr. Nutting describing French policy in Algeria : `M. Lacoste, of course,' he knowingly explains, `does not want a settlement. For one thing it would lose him a job, and there are few who have been reared among the vicissi- tudes of French politics who would give up a government post before it gave them up.' This is not very nice. Whom, may we ask, does the author prefer to the greedy and unpleasant French? We meet them on his peregrinations : outlandish tyrants assuring Mr. Nutting of their undying opposition to Communism, or else smooth agita- tors intensely mouthing the slogans of European politics. The author, for his part, is always ready with a solution and an arrangement : there should be a change of heart in Paris, Libya must be strengthened, all Greek Cypriots must be educated by the British Council, the Shah must not be so fond of money. But so much good sense proves In the end too much, for on his last page Mr. Nutting comes out with a proposal of wild splen- dour : that Britain should promote, not mere Arab unity, but Islamic unity itself, from Casa- blanca to Karachi, no less. This modest proposal is no doubt meant for the benefit of the next Con- servative government. ELIE KEDOURIE
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