As early as 1870, Syrian writer Francis Marrash distinguished the notion of fatherland from that of nation; when applying the latter to Greater Syria, he pointed to the role played by language, besides customs and belief in common interests, in defining national identity.
He accompanied U.S. troops in their landing in North Africa in 1942 and soon began to form views on the French colonial administration and the beginnings of Arab nationalism.
Considerable rigour is given to explanations of the rise of Arab nationalism, Salafism, Ba'athism and Islamism, although, as Ruthven notes in his afterword, much of the rise of the latter ideology took place after the book was published.
The French Mandate volunteer force, which would later become the Syrian army, was established in 1920 with the threat of Syrian−Arab nationalism in mind.
United Arab Emirates | Arab | 1948 Arab–Israeli War | nationalism | Arab Spring | Irish nationalism | Arab Cup Winners' Cup | Nationalism | Arab Revolt | Arab League | Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf | Arab world | Arab Super Cup | Arab–Israeli conflict | United Arab Emirates dirham | Burj Al Arab | Arab Legion | Arab-Israeli conflict | 1948 Arab-Israeli War | United Arab Republic | Arab Region | Quebec nationalism | United Arab Emirates national football team | Arab nationalism | Arab Liberation Army | Arab Egypt | Arab cuisine | Shatt al-Arab | Irish Nationalism | Catalan nationalism |
He was a political moderate who wanted the three main political groups, Ottomanist, pan-Islamic, and Egyptian and Arab nationalist, to exist in cooperation.
However, another faction moved towards Marxism, including Habash and Nayef Hawatmeh, which brought them into conflict with Nasser and increasingly led them to place a heavier emphasis on socialism than pan-Arab nationalism.
His Ph.D., obtained in 1986 also at the Aranne School of History at Tel Aviv University, was titled "Between Communism and Arab Nationalism: Rakah and the Arab Minority in Israel (1965- 1973)."