Margaret K. Nydell - Understanding Arabs: A Guide for Modern Times

Understanding Arabs: A Contemporary Guide to Modern Society

Sixth Edition Praise:

This book is so much more than an academic work on Arabs and their culture. Dr. Nydell brings her professional experiences in academics, language, culture, business and diplomacy together in this 6th Edition to the benefit of her readers who travel, vacation or do business in the Arab world. The revisions in this edition add additional clarity to recent events in the Middle East and enhance the books ability to prepare readers for their travels or business. I continue to recommend Understanding Arabs to my students, colleagues and my clients who need to understand the nuances of travel in that part of the world.

F. Rusty Capps, Former FBI Supervisory Special Agent, Adjunct Professor at Radford University and President, CT/CI Training Partners LLC, Lexington, Virginia

Praise for the Fifth Edition:

Margaret Nydell blends her informed understanding of Arab history and contemporary politics with deep and thoughtful insight into Arab culture and psychology. Many authors know much about the former, and a few know much about the latter, but only Understanding Arabs conveys a deep understanding of the synergies of both. This is essential reading for those working inor with Arab countries, or seeking to understand Arab society.

Lawrence R. Velte Associate Professor of Near East South Asia Center for Strategic Studies, National Defense University, and Associate, Washington Center for Protocol, Inc.

This book is a must-read for anyone wanting to comprehend the Middle East. The writing is fluid, full of examples, and updated to include the Arab Spring. Dr. Nydell, a world renowned linguist with decades of practical experience in the field, is an authoritative voice. She provides profound insights into Arabs perceptions underlying political events, and our interactions with each other.

Elizabeth McKune, Executive Director, Sultan Qaboos Cultural Center, and Former US Ambassador to the State of Qatar

For her understanding of the Arab mind, her expertise in teaching, and her skill in crafting this book, Dr. Nydell is truly a national treasure. Understanding Arabs should be required reading for any professional or policy maker who is involved in any way with working with Arabs or on matters impacting the Middle East.

F.L. Rusty Capps, Former FBI Supervisory Special Agent, and President of Counterterrorism, Counterintelligence Training Partners LLC.

This is an important and fascinating book, especially for Americans in the crucial time in U.S.-Arab relations. Dr. Nydell presents a timely, lucid, and engaging guide to the values and cultures of the Arab world, based on her many years of working and living there, and on her training as a professional linguist. This candid and wonderfully readable book captures the contrasts and the characteristics of this great civilization and brings them vividly to life for a Western audience.

Karin Ryding, PhD, Sultan Qaboos bin Said Professor of Arabic, and Chair of the Department of Arabic Language, Georgetown University

Still the only volume of its kind. This timely and needed volume supports serious-minded efforts to learn, understand, and communicate with Arabs and Muslims. Nydell combines her many years of experience living in the region with her special linguistic expertise to offer todays students insights they are obliged to critically consider before study or research abroad. The accessible presentation succeeds in humanizing as it reveals both the difficult issues and the abiding values that govern peoples experiences. Nydell reminds us that in the Middle East and North Africa there will be much more to grasp as continued rapid change alters those lives daily.

Terrence M. Potter, Visiting Associate Professor,
Georgetown University

The fifth edition of Understanding Arabs is a great introduction to the Arab world for both the general public and college students who wish to expand their knowledge of the region. Nydells book is of tremendous use in the classroom, as it engages the cultural, linguistic, religious and political diversity of the Arab peoples and the Arab lands.

Douja Mariem Mamelouk, Assistant Professor, French and Arabic Literatures, University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

This new and updated sixth edition first published in 2018 by Intercultural Press
An imprint of Nicholas Brealey Publishing. An imprint of John Murray Press

An Hachette UK company

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Copyright Margaret K. Nydell, 1996, 2002, 2005, 2012, 2014, 2018.

The right of Margaret K. Nydell to be identified as the Author of the Work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Nydell, Margaret K. (Margaret Kleffner), author.Title: Understanding Arabs : a contemporary guide to Arab society / Margaret K. Nydell.Description: Sixth edition. | Boston, MA : Nicholas Brealey Publishing, 2017. | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2017044925 (print) | LCCN 2017048704 (ebook) | ISBN 9781473690899 (ebook) | ISBN 9781473690905 (library ebook) | ISBN 9781473669970 | ISBN 9781473669970(pbk.) | ISBN 9780983955818(ebook)Subjects: LCSH: Arabs. Classification: LCC DS36.77 (ebook) | LCC DS36.77 .N93 2017 (print) | DDC 909/.04927--dc23LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017044925

ISBN 978-1-47366-997-0

US eBook ISBN 978-1-47369-089-9

UK eBook ISBN 978-1-47369-091-2

Printed and bound in the United States of America

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I wrote the first edition of