What Went Wrong? The Clash Between Islam and Modernity in the Middle East by Bernard Lewis

During the height of the Ottoman Empire the Middle East was a leader in military, economic, and scientific achievement, but all of that changed with their response to the rise of the Western world. Lewis addresses elements such as response to secularization, separation of church and state, and emancipation of women along with other issues that have contributed to the steady decline of the Middle East. The book was eye-opening and did a thorough job of covering the topics at hand. Lewis did not appear to take sides until the end. This quote I found interesting: “If the peoples of the Middle East continue on their present path, the suicide bomber may become a metaphor for the whole region . . . If they can abandon grievance and victimhood, settle their differences, and join their talents, energies, and resources in a common creative endeavor, they can once again make the Middle East in modern times as it was in antiquity.”