Arab Voices What They Are Saying to Us, and Why it Matters [Paperback]

Despite increased contact between the West and the Arab world, even top American political leaders have only limited awareness of the realities and complexities of their Arab counterparts. Arab Voices asks the questions, collects the answers, and shares the results that will help us see Arabs clearly, bringing into stark relief the myths, assumptions, and biases that hold us back from understanding this important variety of cultures. With a new afterword chronicling the importance of the recent uprisings across the Arab world, Zogby shows why it's more important than ever to base policy and perception on reality, rather than stereotypes and theories.

James Zogbyis founder and president of the Washington, D.C.-based Arab American Institute and a senior advisor to the polling firm Zogby International. He writes a weekly column that appears in twenty Arab newspapers and hosts a weekly call-in discussion program on Abu Dhabi television. A member of the Council on Foreign Relations, Democratic National Committee, and co-chair of the DNC's Resolutions Committee, he and his wife Eileen live in Washington, D.C.

Persuasively illustrates . . .that Americans tend to project their fears and desires onto Arabs and Muslims rather than searching for common ground . . .It's hard to deny the validity of Zogby's larger argument. To succeed in the Middle East, the United States needs to listen more to actual Arab voices, and not let preconceived myths about the Muslim world dictate policy. The New York Times Sunday Book Review

An informative and readable book that avoids the reductionism, demonology, and victimology that all too often taint treatment of this subject. Foreign Affairs

Jim Zogby has written an essential and enlightening book on Arab opinion. Arab Voices is a must read for anyone who wants to hear true voices from the Arab world. Her Majesty Queen Noor of Jordan

Arab Voices is a breakthrough book. Final.