John Waterbury Quotes
South Korea’s research and development output has increased from half the size of the Arab world to 20 times as large, and Israel’s research output on a per capita basis is 26 times as large as the Arab world’s.
John Waterbury, Political Scientist, Editor of World Politics, Book Review, Foreign Affairs, September – October 2013
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What is ironic about this fact is that 1000 years ago, the Muslim Middle East was scientifically and mathematically far in advance of Europe. However, after about 1100 AD, the Muslim religion began to lose its intellectual tolerance and cultural appreciation for science and innovation to the point where innovation of any kind was regarded as heresy, and the logic and empiricism that was present in early Islam disappeared, and there has been little scientific innovation and progress in traditional Arab Islamic nations ever since.
GDP is Gross Domestic Product—the size of the economy of the country. Israel devotes a larger proportion of its economy to research than any other nation. This is one of the reasons that that have such a highly developed workforce and economy. Israeli science and technology are used in every country of the world including the Arab Nations whose politicians and populace do not even realize that they use Israeli technology as the Arab nations are among the lowest investors in R&D and produces few scientists.
Over 100 years later a group of Islamic Modernists and Scientists came to a similar conclusion.
First Muslim to win the Nobel Prize
This was an incredible prediction that few people thought was possible. This speech was given in the early days of WWII when it was far from clear that we would win.
Colman’s view that business failures contributing to society may be more important than the contributions of the wealthy and successful has been a common theme where failed business men make great politicians (Truman) or failed politicians are appreciated as great philosophers (Paine). This seems to be the first American argument that a failed economic enterprise can have a very beneficial short and/or long term effect on economic development. The failed business could start an entire industry which succeeds later when technology or capital becomes more readily available, or even if implemented by a better manager. Arguably, the California gold rush miners never made any significant money, but their presence changed the economic fact of California. The American airline industry has made little or no money in its history but has enabled development throughout the nation. And the dot com bubble may well have been an economic debacle of the end of the 20th century, but it spurred economic development that has benefited the entire globe.
While Peres and many others think that the Arab nations can become developed countries, there are major barriers in the way. One is oil. No country that has had a great deal of oil has ever developed. Then there is education. Israel’s technological success requires a very high level of education in secular subjects which no Arab nation provides. The Western cultural values of inquiry, freedom of thought, individuality are were in large part developed from the traditional Jewish values. The Muslims had these at the early 2nd millineum. But political and religious forces since then, have created contemporary Arab cultures whose vaues are in many ways antithetical to modern technological development.
Professor Lewis is the world’s leading expert on the Arab Islamic world.
John Waterbury is an American academic and former president of the American University of Beirut.
