Understanding Arabs: A Guide for Modern Times

Coming from a base of no knowledge and no contact with Arabs, this book helped prepare me for mentoring Arab students in my University classes. It has certainly smoothed the road in my dealings with students by enabling me to see the world from their perspective. A few small arabic phrases have allowed me to say hello and goodbye to my students in their language, and such small courtesies go a long way in a strange land. In general, it is amazing how in the "West" we tend to lump all Muslims into one large pot. The largest learnings for me from this book are that not all Muslims are Arabs and not all Arabs are Muslims. Not all Arabs are the same, and it is vital to understand the deliniation between "Arabic" customs and the customs of countries inhabited by Arabs. It is a short and very easy read. I am sure that this book misses many things in the quest for accessibility, but I haven't found out what they are yet. So far, so good!

If you have had no direct experience with Arab culture (or ANY culture than Western), you should at least take a peek to see how people are different around the world. Even now, over ten years after 9-11, many of the misconceptions about the Arab Peoples as a whole persist alive and well. For the most part Understanding Arabs succeeds in painting Arabs (without falling much into the trap of overgeneralizing or stereotyping) as just another people, or culture, among many in the world, albeit one with values different in some key ways than our own here in America. Cultural differences are powerful. Take a look inside the book (as you can do here with this book) and you will see. My only complaint about this book is that the author's love of Arab culture occasionally tends to stand out a bit which gives the impression at times that she is writing a cultural apologetic, which was not, I don't think, her intention. Understanding Arabs is not likely to convert those who have rigid views, but it CAN at least provide an opportunity (through numerous interesting anecdotes and examples) to allow people to see that cultures ARE often different than our own. Also, the book doesn't candy coat - it is very direct.

Great book for information purposes. Just wanted to read something different and I really enjoyed the book. If traveling to the middle east, I would recommend reading this book.

This is the most complete and understandable book on Arabic culture I have ever read. I am a International Relations student specializing in the Middle East. Understanding Arabs helped me to identify my cultural differences and similarities with Arabs. It helped me understand the difference between Arab culture and Muslim culture. It helped me understand the developments and decline of movements in Arabic cultures, such as Feminism, Arab Christians, Democratic values, Western values, and other things dear to me. It is a helpful book for anyone wanting to get a brief overview of Arabic culture or wants to deepen their understanding of another aspect of humanity.

I was very disappointed with this book. Reading it, I couldn't help but think that the author represents a viewpoint that is the opposite side of the coin of some of the harsher critics of Arabs and Islam. This is because the book reads more like an apologia for Arab failings and problems than it does a "handbook" (which is what the author claims she wrote it to be). This is very evident in the chapters about militant Islam and anti-Americanism. The author obviously has tremendous empathy and sympathy for the Arab people, but she doesn't show a whole lot of empathy for the American people. She argues --and I think she's right-- that most Arabs don't hate individual Americans but instead hate America's government. But this sort of reasoning overlooks the fact that America's government was elected by the American people and its actions in the world reflect the consent of the majority of American people at least most of the time. In other words, a great deal of the actions of the American government that Arabs hate so much are just expressions of what we the American people (who Arabs profess not to hate) want and hold dear. The author also says that a great deal of the hatred toward "the American government" is there because of our support for "corrupt, despotic Arab regimes." I won't deny that we have backed some rotten regimes in the past and not just in the Arab world. But ultimately, who is responsible for tolerating a corrupt autocracy or vicious dictatorship? It's the people ruled by them. If the people don't at least passively accept being misruled by such a regime, such a regime won't exist for very long. Go ask the Shah of Iran's ghost about that if you don't believe me. So what I'm saying here is that a great deal of the Arabs' predicament in the world is their own fault, but they displace that blame (like we Americans do sometimes ourselves) onto "the American government" instead of looking at themselves in the mirror. So I think that unless you are the sort of person who thinks that any difficulties the US encounters in the world always have to be our fault and that the people who cause us difficulties don't have free will but are instead "puppets" only able to react to American "sins" I wouldn't bother reading this book.

This book is a great elementary lesson in Arab culture. It was purchased for a class in the MA program and too simple for my needs. It would be a wonderful addition for someone entering a BA or for anyone who wishes to have a basic understanding of culture. I would suggest advertising it in this manner.

I wish I had read this book prior to my 2 deployments to Iraq. I had several awkward interactions with Iraqis. These interactions usually ended with me being confused, and them probably thinking that I was a jerk. After reading this book, I now understand where they were coming from and what I could have done instead to avoid these misunderstandings. Even if I had been fluent in Arabic back then, that would not have been enough to bridge the gap since I didnt understand their social etiquette, which is very different. I will be going back to the Arab world, this time as a student. I would recommend this book to anybody going there.

This book is an excellent text for anyone interested in the Arab culture and way of thinking. Nydell uses her experiences and wisdom as she beautifully and respectfully describes life in the Middle East. Anyone considering business with Arabs or in the Middle East should utilize her artful explanations.

Da mein Freund aus Tunesien kommt, beschäftige ich mich sehr viel mit der arabischen Sprache und Kultur, lese alles zum Thema was ich in die Finger kriege. Dieses Buch ist mit Abstand das beste, das mir im Zuge dieser Recherche untergekommen ist. Umfassende Informationen werden sachlich präsentiert, mit verlässlichen Quellen belegt und mit persönlichen Erfahrungswerten unterstrichen, Klischees erklärt und relativiert. Ich habe sehr viel Neues gelernt und verstehe jetzt vieles besser. Wäre schön, wenn alle Bücher zu diesem Thema auf solche Art und Weise aufbereitet würden.

instructive and good value, does exactly what it says on the cover, well worth the money. i would reccomend it to anyone

Ich habe das Buch im Rahmen meiner Diplomarbeit gekauft, weil ich auf der Suche nach einer Quelle war, die meine Erfahrungen, die ich "im arabischen Ausland" gemacht habe, belegen konnte. Viele meiner Erfahrungen konnte ich wiederfinden, welches zu einer Art 'Aha-Erlebnis' führte, da die Hintergründe für bestimmte Verhaltensweisen sehr gut erläutert werden. Es ist ein sehr sehr umfassendes und 'aus dem wirklichen Leben gegriffenes Werk', welches für mich bis dato ungeklärte Fragen beantwortet hat und auch neue Erkenntnisse gebracht hat. Ich finde, dass es sich in jedem Fall um eine lohnenswerte Investition handelt. Mich hat das Buch in meinem Kultur- und Mentalitätsverständnis definitiv weitergebracht.