I hope the Arab reader will find useful information about the phenomenon known as the 'return of religion,' prevalent in all societies that adhere to one of the three monotheistic religions. It is true that I delved deeper into the struggles of Christian societies with this phenomenon, from a long historical perspective, going back to the Church's inquisitions in the European Middle Ages and the fierce religious wars between Protestants and Catholics during what was nevertheless called the 'Renaissance' in Europe. I believe, after the careful historical review contained in this work, that this in-depth analysis is necessary for us as Arabs, and as Muslims in our vast majority, to explain the societal crisis and loss of legitimacy that afflicts us, in which issues of collective identity, religion, politics, and culture are intricately mixed. Through the chapters of this book, I have sought to expose the absurdity of the ideas and visions held by Western political leaders and the extent of the harm they inflict upon us in particular. Let us leave the political leaders and the Western academic works involved in them; as for us, we must rebuild a cultural system as a foundation for a second Arab renaissance, independent of the continuous media and academic flow coming from the West in which we are imprisoned. We must engage in a rigorous critical review of our cultural and media practices, which have come to closely resemble the booby-trapped literature from the West about the 'return of religion,' the clash of civilizations, and 'Judeo-Christian' values versus 'Arab-Islamic' values.

From the author's introduction.

Dr. Georges Corm, born in Lebanon in 1940, is a graduate of the University of Paris in Constitutional Law and Economic Sciences. In his professional life, he worked as an economist and financial expert and served as Lebanon's Minister of Finance (1998-2000). He is a professor at Saint Joseph University in Beirut.

Among his most important works:

• Pluralism of Religions and Systems of Government, 1977.
• The Arab Economy Facing the Challenge, 1977.
• Economic Dependency: The Impasse of Third World Indebtedness in Historical Perspective, 1980.
• The Lost Development: Studies in the Arab Civilizational and Developmental Crisis, 1981.
• The New International Economic Disorder, 1994.
• East and West: The Mythical Divide, 2003.
• Contemporary Lebanon: History and Society, 2004.
• The Explosion of the Arab Mashreq, Dar Al-Farabi, 2006.

Year of publication: 2007

Publishing house: Dar Al-Farabi for Publishing and Distribution