The Human Rights Turn and the Paradox of Progress in the Middle East (Middle East Today)

This book aims to shift the limited and often negative popular understanding of the Middle East’s place in the world by chronicling the region’s contributions to the international order rather than disorder, and to the development of the international human rights system. It elucidates the many paradoxes that make the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region both a troubling place and also a region brimming with great potential for peace, prosperity and progress. By demonstrating the paradox of human rights progress amid regress, the book tells a radically new and more hopeful side of the story of the region that has largely been obfuscated and omitted from the chronicles of history. In so doing, it shows that fostering a human rights culture is not only possible for all universally, it is inevitable. Front Matter ....Pages i-x Front Matter ....Pages 1-1 Introduction (Mishana Hosseinioun)....Pages 3-17 The Cultural Relativism Trap (Mishana Hosseinioun)....Pages 19-32 The Universality Test (Mishana Hosseinioun)....Pages 33-51 A Regional Rights Regime (Mishana Hosseinioun)....Pages 53-74 Front Matter ....Pages 75-78 Egypt (Mishana Hosseinioun)....Pages 79-106 The United Arab Emirates (Mishana Hosseinioun)....Pages 107-131 The Islamic Republic of Iran (Mishana Hosseinioun)....Pages 133-157 Front Matter ....Pages 159-159 Conclusion (Mishana Hosseinioun)....Pages 161-177 Back Matter ....Pages 179-209 This text shifts the limited and often negative popular understanding of the Middle East's place in the world by chronicling the region's contributions to the international order rather than disorder, and to the development of the international human rights system. It elucidates the many paradoxes that make the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region both a troubling place and also a region brimming with great potential for peace, prosperity and progress Mishana Hosseinioun. Includes Bibliographical References (pages 179-199) And Index.