For some time, I’ve been intrigued by the hardening split in the United States between “liberal” cities and “conservative” rural regions. City dwellers tend to attribute these differences to country folk being ignorant and backward, trying to hold onto a way of life that is dying rather than accepting reality and getting with the modern, sophisticated vibe. But “Terror: The Hidden Source,” a review by Malise Ruthven of Akbar Ahmed’s book, The Thistle and the Drone: How America’s War on Terror Became a Global War on Tribal Islam, illuminates how this urban elitism is wrong and counter-productive. Observing dynamics in other countries can often help one better understand one’s own country.

As a Southern hillbilly, I’ve experienced bias directed against me because of my accent and my tendency to speak slowly. On the other hand, as a long-time resident of San Francisco, I’ve certainly often felt a sense of superiority due to my decision to live in Baghdad-by-the-Bay. I’ve looked down on Oakland and Alameda, actually loathed Los Angeles (after all, they dominate our Legislature and stole our water, just watch Chinatown), and have been mystified by why anyone would want to live in any of those God-forsaken places. But this provincialism is really just a modern form of tribalism.

The fact of the matter is that city slickers are not as smart as they think they are and country bumpkins are not the idiots purported to be by sophisticated urbanites. People who don’t live in cities have good reason for their decision. Urban-based political activists had best understand and respect those decisions, rather than assuming that their primary task is to “educate” the unenlightened.

Ruthen’s review of tribal passions in the Muslim world reflects a similar dynamic. Ruthen writes:

As an anthropologist with deep knowledge and direct experience of tribal systems, Akbar Ahmed demonstrates in The Thistle and the Drone how … in regions, distant from urban centers … clans resist the writ of government while also engaging with it. He points to their “love of freedom” to act without external constraints…,

The fundamental error, according to Ahmed, is that US leaders believe they are facing a threat from enemies whose motivation is primarily ideological.

…the terrorist activities associated with al-Qaeda and its affiliates are actively engaging the responses of tribal peoples … whose cultures are facing destruction from the forces of modern society….

The clans tended to quarrel among themselves when not coalescing in the face of outsiders….

In short, says Ahmed, while Western countries were appeasing the Saudis in order to secure their oil supplies, the Saudis were systematically destroying the Yemeni-Asiri culture.

Ahmed sees “resentment against the Saudi centers of power” as a “constant undercurrent ….”

…tribal leaders are torn between collaboration and resistance.

…tribes … feel themselves threatened.

Resentful at the flaunting of Saudi wealth, in contrast to their own loss of dignity and status, they were ripe for the anti-American messages….

His theme is not some vaguely defined “clash of civilizations” but rather the clash between metropolitan centers and rural peripheries that is internal to all modern civilizations—whether these be Islamic, Western, Russian, or Chinese….

…tribal systems are coming under attack everywhere from the forces of the modernizing state.

he finds that

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every aspect of life—religious… and political leadership, customs, and codes—is in danger of being turned upside down. The particles that formed the kaleidoscope of history and remained stationary for so long have now been shaken about in bewildering patterns, with no telling when and how they will settle into some recognizable forms.
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…the values of honor and revenge inherent in the tribal systems contribute to jihadist extremism, …by ignoring this all-important factor the US has been courting disaster….

The use of this tactic [suicide bombers], in violation of Koranic strictures against suicide, is suggestive both of a progressive brutalization and the process of globalization,…

Ahmed’s belief … is that tribal peoples must be negotiated with, rather than cowed into submission….

In confronting the details documented in Ahmed’s book, it is difficult to avoid his pessimistic conclusion:

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Hearing the voices of people from the periphery, one gets the impression of utterly normal and decent human beings bearing witness to the slow but inexorable destruction of their communities….

How urban political leaders in the United States might “negotiate with” people who live outside our urban centers is an intriguing question. I know no blueprint. But as Harry Boyte argues in “Populism and John Dewey” and I argue in “Building Compassionate Populism,” we should not only talk economics. We also need to appreciate culture.

Given deep-seated urban arrogance, it’s interesting that many environmentalists and anti-globalization activists are now promoting “localism.” It turns out that many of us are realizing that city life is not all that it’s been made out to be. A starting point for moving forward is to better understand the positive cultural values that have been affirmed by rural communities.