Abdelilah Belkeziz, Paths to Progress: Introductions to Foundations and Policies (Beirut: Center for Arab Unity Studies, 2022). 192 pp. ISBN 9789953829746.The idea of progress around which this book revolves represents the transformations that the world has witnessed, particularly Europe, since the seventeenth century in various scientific, intellectual, political, economic, and social fields. The scientific revolution was the first of those transformations, followed by the Industrial Revolution. These two revolutions were accompanied by a parallel revolution in the relationship between politics and religion, which was manifested in secularism or laicism that restored the Church to its spiritual domain, removing politics from its realm, thus liberating the state and politics from the influence of the Church. Secularism was sustained by the concept of a social contract that enabled people to live together in society in accordance with an understanding that establishes moral and political rules of behavior of their own choice and not those dictated by any ecclesiastical or divine authority.By the nineteenth century the idea of progress became a collective belief shared by all societies worldwide. However, not all countries had the same opportunities to benefit from the fruits of progress as not all of them had the same capabilities to acquire the means to make progress. Some countries, generally those of the West and industrial Eastern Asia, learned how to produce progress through the development of science, technology, industry, institutions, and political and administrative systems, while the countries of the Global South, including most of the Arab countries, continued to be import markets for products from the West and other sources.Hence, this book presents the most prominent paths of progress in the Arab countries and their development along with the necessary political, economic, social, educational, and cultural reforms needed to deal with the developmental gap between the Arab world and Europe, which was characterized by its scientific and technological revolution, in addition to the cultural advancements brought about by the Renaissance and the Enlightenment.The political approach is considered the gateway to progress, as one can hardly speak of any progress in the fields of thought, culture, development, science, technology, and others without achieving political progress that fosters and ensures progress within the framework of the modern nation-state, which is based on rationality in organization, operation, performance, institutions, the rule of law, and the principle of separation of state powers. In a modern nation-state, the civil rights of citizens and their political participation as well as their engagement in public affairs are also guaranteed, not to mention their involvement in setting up development programs that aim to eliminate poverty, marginalization, and social inequality, and provide education, medical care, and a decent living for all citizens.Development in any society cannot be achieved without social progress that includes key values, foremost of which is the value of gender equality, which in essence means social equality and curbing patriarchal tendencies. The values of tolerance in all its forms, most notably intellectual, religious tolerance, and the value of recognition, including the recognition of the rights of others, are also social values which are indicators of social progress.Moreover, the foundations of progress will not be complete without achieving evolution in the field of knowledge, thought, culture, and education, especially through the advancement of institutions that produce knowledge, science and culture. Hence, the battle for progress must be fought in the Arab world. This cannot be achieved, however, without consensus on the reform process in Arab countries, which have suffered from foreign occupation in addition to the resistance of the post-independence nation-states and political parties to implement reforms.■■■■Amira Ahmed Herzli, Russia’s Strategy in Managing Conflicts in the Mediterranean Region (Syrian Conflict 2011–2021): Gains and Challenges (Amman: Dar al Ayam). 302 pp. ISBN 9789957959487The collapse of the former Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War in favor of the United States marked the end of the bipolar system and led to the exclusivity of the United States in managing international affairs within the framework of a unipolar system, serving its geopolitical interests wherever possible and seeking to strengthen its hegemony. In contrast, Russia, the heir to the Soviet Union, found itself burdened with internal political, economic, and social differences, not to mention the deterioration of its international status.Hence, Russian officials had to deal with the various challenges the country faced through a series of political, economic, and military reforms in order to sustain the central authority of the state and restore its position at an international level.Russia was able to initiate reforms through President Vladimir Putin, who assumed power in 2000, and sought to restore Russia’s role as an international power competing with the United States, or at least securing its presence within the framework of a multipolar international system in line with its capabilities and interests.Reorienting its foreign policy in line with its national interests, the new Russian leadership focused on the geo-economic variables related to energy resources and their impact on international relations. The increase in terrorist threats on the international scene, especially the spread of terrorist organizations such as “ISIS” and “al-Nusra Front” in Iraq, Syria, and Libya and armed conflicts in the Mediterranean region following “the Arab Spring” uprisings have also affected Russian foreign policy in the region.In this sense, the issue of energy security in the Mediterranean, in the light of the spread of terrorist organizations that threaten states such as Syria and the Syrian leadership—one of Russia’s most prominent allies in the Mediterranean—has become one of the main pillars of Russian strategy to protect its national security and participate in conflict management in the region. Therefore, it was necessary for the Russian leadership to maintain its presence in the Mediterranean, especially in Syria, to support its strategic ally, and to seek to ensure the control of energy transmission lines in the region or prevent the creation of new lines that could be considered to be in conflict with its interests.■■■■Rana bint Hamdan bin Saif Al-Duwayaniyah, The Arab National Movement in the Arabian Gulf: 1948–1968 (Beirut: Riad Al Rayes, 2022). 424 pp. ISBN 9789953217420This book examines the rise of nationalist discourse in the Arab Gulf region and its reflection on the cultural life of the region. It addresses the political changes in the region during the period between 1948 and 1967, which witnessed two important events: the first was the “al-Nakba” in 1948, the Palestinian Catastrophe during which more than 600 Palestinian villages were destroyed and more than 700,000 Palestinians were expelled from their homes before the declaration of the foundation of the State of Israel in May 1948; and the second was the defeat of the Arabs in the June 1967 war known as “al-Naska,” the setback. These two events had a great impact on local politics in the Arabian Gulf as well as on Arab nationalist political organizations which were able to influence the political and intellectual life in the region, before they lost agency after the setback of 1967.The book presents the most prominent issues adopted by the Arab nationalist movement in the Arab Gulf region, addressing the factors that affected Arab nationalist organizations in the area, and ultimately led to their decline.Broadly speaking, the Arab national movement was regarded as a leading Anti-Zionist and anti-colonial movement. It affirmed the necessity of confronting Zionism and called for self-determination and independence from British “protection.” Yet, after the 1967 setback, a split occurred in the national movement, and its role declined after the emergence of leftist movements and organizations that adopted Marxist ideology, which was regarded as a threat by the ruling monarchical regimes of the time.The book consists of three chapters. The first presents the most prominent factors, especially “the 1948 Palestinian Catastrophe,” that contributed to the rise of Arab nationalist discourse and the emergence of nationalist organizations in the Arab Gulf region during the 1950s. The second chapter deals with Arab issues that emerged between 1948 and 1968, foremost of which are the Arab–Israeli conflict and Syrian–Egyptian unity. The third chapter deals with the reasons that caused the decline of the Arab national movement in the Arab Gulf region, especially after the setback of 1967, which led to its fragmentation and the emergence of leftist organizations that adopted Marxist ideology. The failure of the Arab Socialist Ba’ath Party and Nasserism to merge into one Arab nationalist organization in the region was also considered to be an important factor that led to the decline of the Arab national movement.Nevertheless, the author argues that despite the decline of the Arab nationalist movement in the Arab Gulf countries, it played an important role in creating a political environment to challenge colonialism and foreign mandatory protectorates, in addition to its role in stimulating support for the Palestinian cause.■■■■Mohammed Ashour Mahdi, ed., Africa, Arabs and Colonization: Studies in Ali Mazrui’s Work (Beirut: Center for Arab Unity Studies, 2022). 208 pp. ISBN 9789953829739This book discusses a set of intellectual and political issues presented by the African thinker Ali Mazrui in his examination of several African and Arab questions, namely: Arab–African relations, African identity, Islam and the West, and Zionism. The importance of the book adheres, in part, to the efforts of Mazrui, who uses an independent cognitive perspective in the face of Eurocentrism, from which many studies in the African field were launched and led to fruitless results in understanding African reality. The significance of the book also lies in its presentation of the intellectual values that Mazrui has struggled to uphold for over more than half a century, most notably, his vision of understanding African reality, as a product of three inheritances: traditional African heritage, Islam, and modern Western values. His aspiration for Arab–African integration is embodied by the concept of “Afrabia,” his comparison between Zionism and Racism in South Africa and his anti-colonial stance.The book consists of five chapters. The first presents Mazrui’s vision of Arab–African relations and the achievement of cultural development in Southern Arab–African countries embodied by the concept of “Afrabia.” The second focuses on the links between Arabs and Africans, dealing with religious, linguistic, ethnic, and social factors, in addition to geographic restrictions that affected their relations. The third deals with the role of colonialism in harming Arab and African relationships, not to mention the expansion of Israeli influence in the African and Arab regions that added to the rift between Arabs and Africans. The fourth discusses Mazrui’s vision of African identity, addressing his criticism of the intellectual heritage based on European centralism, as well as on the thought of modernity, which stresses the concept of European leadership and its responsibility to change and develop the “backward” peoples in Asia and Africa. In the final chapter, Mazrui presents his vision for the areas of convergence and disagreement between the Islamic world and the West.■■■■Aymen Boutarfa, The Question of Justice in Current Political Philosophy (Beirut: Center for Arab Unity Studies, 2022). 256 pp. ISBN 978-9953-82-972-2Like truth, wisdom, and virtue, justice belongs to the domain of basic concepts and human values that permeate the human consciousness and imbue narratives of what ought to be done for the sake of goodness and perfection. Thus, justice, as a value, is linked to the contexts of that which is common for a group, and society, imposing itself as one of the most interesting and controversial issues in various political, social, cultural, and philosophical discussions. Its importance is based on the fact that human beings have always sought to understand the nature of justice and ways of its application in real life, after it has imposed itself as a basic and fundamental idea in any value system, be it political, moral, religious, or philosophical.The importance of the question of justice also appears since its emergence in systematic philosophical texts in the history of philosophy, when Plato raised it through various Socratic dialogues in The Republic and the development of philosophical theories about it, especially with the publication of John Rawls’ A Theory of Justice (1971) that brought the question of justice back to the center of current philosophical discussions, making justice the focus of all current political philosophical thinking.Hence, this book deals with the question of justice within the framework of philosophical discourse, removed from the realms of media and political discourse that deal with the question of justice in consumerist and reductionist formulas. It shows that the prevailing philosophy of justice, for the most part, stems from a liberal background, and that most of the discussions and theories of current justice philosophy belong to the Anglo-Saxon discursive field. The most important features of this current philosophy of justice are re-presenting the problem of the relationship of justice with the duality or dialectic of right and wrong, adhering to the principle of human equality as an intellectual project as well as to the principle of recognition as a means of dealing with the logic of difference and the issue of cultural pluralism, in addition to the concept of transitional justice.The current philosophy of justice, however, no longer deals with justice as a whole, or as a perfect virtue or an absolute value. In contrast to classical justice, which did not sufficiently acknowledge plurality and diversity in addressing the issue of justice, the current philosophy of justice focuses on the study of the various aspects of justice: political justice, social justice, economic justice, environmental justice, as well as justice in other fields. In all cases, however, justice remains a key value from which other values derive their legitimacy in human society.■■■■Kefaya Muhammad Abdullah, Public Service Ethics and Governance (Amman: Dar Al Masirah, 2022). 452 pp. ISBN 9789957971953This book emphasizes the importance of developing civil service systems because of their direct impact in upholding the values of ethics, promoting positive behavior in the service of the citizen, consolidating the principles of social peace, and safeguarding the rights of employees, customers, and stakeholders in the civil service. In this context, it stresses the importance of developing rules of conduct and ethics for public positions as a cornerstone that contributes to creating a work environment characterized by professional competence in the public sector which needs to increase its productivity.The book includes principles, approaches, and ethical performance measurement mechanisms for the renewal of the civil service in accordance with the principles of governance, thus providing directors and employees of public institutions with a guide on the best practices that enhance governance and ethics of public service jobs. It also gives an overview of the scientific skills that allow officials and workers in public sector institutions to identify best practices in managing human resources efficiently and effectively. In this context, the book presents to government departments practical applications that include the latest methods and tools used in the field of work in order to serve citizens and raise the level of human resource management in the Arab region.