He analyses current events in the Middle East from an historical perspective and suggests that the Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas and the Israeli right enjoy a symbiotic relationship.
Western liberals find the situation in Gaza and Egypt incomprehensible. It is comprehensible, says Curtis, but only if you look at it in a wider context:
A context that western liberals really don’t like to think about because it makes them very depressed. It is the great shift of our time – the collapse of the dream that politicians could change the world for the better. A dream that was replaced by a conviction that politicians were untrustworthy and always become corrupted by power.
The collapse of that optimistic vision of what politics could achieve then left the way open for powerful, reactionary forces to take power who don’t want to change the world. Instead they want to manage the world and hold it stable – backed up by the threat of violence. A threat to which they have become increasingly addicted.
This has happened not only in America and in Britain – but all over the world. And I want to tell the story of how it happened in the Middle East. It is the intertwined story of the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, Hamas in the Gaza strip and the reactionary right-wing nationalist groups in Israel.
All three groups are driven by an angry, pessimistic vision of the world, of human nature – and the inability of politicians to transform things for the better. It’s a fascinating story because it shows how the underlying similarities led those groups to become tightly locked together – helping each other cement their ruthless grip on their people – and freeze out any progressive alternatives.Curtis’s blog is a long essay supported by video clips but it repays patient study. So pour yourself a drink first – you’ll need it.
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