Geostrategic Media Political Commentary, Analysis, Security, Defense
By Eng. Saleem Al-Batayneh
There is a deeper anguish embedded in this title than in the reality it seeks to describe. It carries meanings and lessons that echo the tragic fate of the black ox in the old parable: “I was eaten the day the white ox was eaten.” A warning that arrives too late.
I do not know where to begin, nor where such a reflection ends. At times, the article seems to write itself, leaving the author merely to transcribe and shape it. This leads to a pressing question: are we, as Arabs, living through a form of civilizational self-delusion? We pay the costs of wars whose losses are borne here and whose gains are realized elsewhere. We strip ourselves of the instruments of power, and—strangely—inflict harm upon ourselves in our own name. We dig our own graves with our own hands, as some might argue, in a geopolitical landscape increasingly shaped by the realities surrounding Israel.
It appears we have entered an undefined phase—an era of “post-something”—without clarity on how our conditions will stabilize. We have not even mastered the language of describing our own moment. We observe events unfold as spectators rather than participants, without responses that match the scale of what is happening.
The game itself does not stop. It is expansive, complex, and larger than any single actor. Its threads are often associated with the United States, yet its operational dynamics are frequently perceived as being influenced heavily by Israel. From Gaza to Lebanon and Syria, from Sudan to Libya, Iraq, Yemen, and even Iran—the map reflects a continuum rather than isolated crises.
Arab decline is no longer a distant or hypothetical risk. It is a tangible reality that appears daily through the windows of our homes, speaking in a language that is no longer our own.
Today, the Arab system faces a compounded crisis that extends beyond intellectual debate into the realm of political will and strategic posture. What we are witnessing is not a sequence of disconnected crises, but rather a broader geopolitical design that many describe as a zero-sum framework—one that does not accommodate compromise easily, nor consistently recognize agreements or settlements. It operates on the logic of power and dominance, and in this reading, it does not serve Arab civilization or identity.
Since reading Tewfik Al-Hakim’s “The Wisdom of Donkey”, I have tried to interpret the “language of donkeys” as he once did—seeking meaning in behavior that at first appears incomprehensible, but may in fact be telling a deeper story about perception and misunderstanding.
Donald Trump did not introduce an unprecedented paradigm; rather, he articulated aloud what had long been said in whispers, bringing into the open what was previously managed behind closed doors. Similarly, Benjamin Netanyahuwould likely not have advanced openly with maximalist symbolic narratives—such as references to expanded territorial visions—without an awareness of the prevailing Arab condition and regional power asymmetries.
Shortly before leaving the White House, Joe Biden stated that one does not need to be Jewish to be Zionist. Whether interpreted literally or politically, such a statement reflects a shift in how Zionism is framed—moving from a purely identity-based construct toward a broader political function that can transcend religious affiliation.
Even Barack Obama has often been cited—whether in formal discourse or attributed commentary—as reflecting a critical view of Arab political cohesion and institutional capacity, underscoring a persistent perception gap between Western policymakers and the Arab world.
Why, then, do we hesitate to acknowledge a difficult possibility: that we are a region drifting toward an uncertain trajectory, shaped by cycles of fragmentation and externally influenced dynamics? We appear to lack the collective capacity to convert negative conditions into constructive outcomes. Much of what unfolds in our region does not appear to be driven primarily by our own agency.
In a notable moment from the American satirical news program The Daily Show, hosted by Jon Stewart, a humorous greeting directed at Arabs—“Shalom alaykum”—was delivered in a satirical context. While comedic in tone, such moments are often interpreted by some as reflecting broader cultural perceptions about external influence over regional affairs, including the drawing of borders and the shaping of leadership structures.
These statements, whether serious or satirical, are not merely slips of the tongue. They are often read as revealing windows into prevailing mental frameworks—frameworks that some argue reduce Arab societies to passive entities rather than active participants in shaping their own destiny.
Ultimately, the question that exposes the depth of the Arab predicament remains: has political agency failed the Arabs, or have the Arabs failed their own political agency?
A possible answer is echoed metaphorically in cinematic dialogue from Al Pacino in The Devil’s Advocate: that circumstances may evolve in ways where human behavior itself contributes to the worsening of conditions beyond external forces alone.
History is replete with lessons. The tragedy lies not in the absence of warnings, but in the failure to heed them. As the old saying reminds us: “A people go astray when they fail to understand the signs before them.”
About the Author:
Eng. Saleem Al-Batayneh was a member of the Jordanian Parliament.
