Special Providence_ American Foreign Policy and How It Changed World - Walter Russell Mead

160 SPECIALPROVIDENCE

TurkishnationalismandArabnationalismowea greatdealtotheeduca-
tionallaborsofthemissionaries,butneitherTurksnorArabsembraced
theirreligiousideals. TheChristianminorities,longtoleratedinthe
MuslimworldundertheenlightenedpreceptsoftheHolyKoran,were
nolongerseenastameminorities.TheywerebearersofdisturbingWest-
erninfluenceand,asWesternpressureonthecrumblingOttomanand
Arabworldsincreased,theywereseenastheconsciousagentsofforeign
imperialpowers.
Astensionsrose,andcontinuedtorisethroughthelatenineteenth
centuryandintocontemporarytimes,increasingnumbersofChristians
intheMiddleEasttookadvantageoftheirfamiliaritywiththeWestern
worldtoemigrate-inmanycases,totheUnitedStates.Theproportion
ofChristiansamongtheArabpopulationofPalestinehasfallenbymore
thantwo-thirdssince1914.19
Thisisa religiousfailureonagrandscale,buttheimpactofthemis-
sionarypresenceonthesecularandpoliticalsceneintheMiddleEasthas
beenprofound,withconsequencesthatwillbeunfoldingformanyyears.
Missionaryeducatedintellectualsplayeda majorroleinthedevelopment
ofArab nationalism; even today PalestinianChristiansplaya much
largerroleinthepoliticsofPalestinethantheirnumberswouldjustify.
ThecontinuingattractionofWesternideas,divorcedfromChristianthe-
ology,remainsfundamentalandprofound;witnessthedemocracymove-
mentincontemporaryIranandthecontinuingdiscussionsintheIslamic
worldabouttheproperroleofwomen.
WhileAmericanmissionarieswerenottheonlyWesterninfluencein
theMiddleEast,untilthe1940StheAmericanmissionarypresencewas
uniqueinthatitwasrelativelydisinterested.UntiltheendofWorld
WarIIBritainandFranceweretheleadingWesternimperialpowersin
theregion,andtheUnitedStateshadnobasesandonlymodestinvest-
ments.Theresultwasa MiddleEasternsympathyfortheUnitedStates
thathasstillnotentirelydisappeared.Arabnationalistslookedtothe
UnitedStatesasa friendly,anti-imperialpoweruntilrelativelyrecently;
evenaslateastheSuezcrisisof1956,theUnitedStatestooktheArab
sideagainsta coalitionofBritain,Israel,andFrance.Turkeystillsees
theUnitedStatesasa sympatheticpower,asdotheArmeniansandthe
Georgians.
Liberaldemocracy,inpoweralmostnowhereintheMiddleEast,is a
forcewithwhichtheMiddleEast'srulersmustneverthelesscontend.A
liberal,modernizingstrainofIslam,developedbyMuslimthinkersear-