Arabs in Foreign Lands by Moises Naim

Naim starts off right away describing the fact that people of Arab descent living in the United States are doing far better than the average American. That is the surprising conclusion drawn from data collected by the U.S. Census Bureau in 2000 and released last March. The census found that U.S. residents who report having Arab ancestors are better educated and wealthier than average Americans. Another fact that Moises Naim shares with us is that 24 percent of Americans hold college degrees, 41 percent of Arab Americans are college graduates. The median income for an Arab family living in the United States is $52,300—4.6 percent higher than other American families—and more than half of all Arab Americans own their home. Naim will later tell us that the success of Arab Americans relies on the fact that most Arab emigrants tend to be younger, more motivated, ambitious, and entrepreneurial. All of these things are character traits that people must have to be successfull in America. With this in mind any Arab immigrant that is successfull in the U.S. would be successfull in any country. Then Naim goes on and explains that this must not be true because European Arabs are doing terrible. European Arabs are far worse off than those in America. In Europe the Arabs are poorer, less educated, and in worse health than the rest of the population. Naim ends his essay expressing his opinion that Arab leaders should be ashamed when they see their emigrants prospering in the United States while their own people are miserable. And Europe should wake up to the possibility that it may have less of an “Arab problem” than a “European problem.” Then again, maybe the cultural determinists have an explanation for why Europeans are so predisposed against Arab success. I believe that Naim is trying to say that the Arab leaders should fell more embarassed rather than ashamed. They should want the Arab people in Europe to have the success that those Arabs in America have. Rather than being ashamed they should be embaressed and try to help the Arab Europeans to live a better life.