The Arab Bureau: British Policy in the Middle East, 1916-1920

256 Pages·1992·3.979 MB·English

by  Bruce Westrate

THE
ARAB BUREAU

Bruce Westrate
THE
ARAB BUREAU
British Policy
in the
Middle East, 1916-1920
The Pennsylvania State University Press
University Park, Pennsylvania
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Westrate, Bruce.
The Arab Bureau : British policy in the Middle East, 1916-1920 /
Bruce Westrate.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index.
ISBN 0-271-00794-X (alk. paper)
1. .Arab Bureau (Cairo, Egypt) 2. Middle East—Foreign relations—
Great Britain. 3. Great Britain—Foreign relations—Middle East.
I. Tide.
DS63.2.G7W47 1992
327.41056'09'041—dc20 91-12353
CIP
Copyright © 1992 The Pennsylvania State University
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
It is the policy of The Pennsylvania State University Press to use acid-free paper for the first
printing of all clothbound books. Publications on uncoated stock satisfy the minimum
requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of
Ibper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48—1984.
For my loving mother,
Joan Koster Westrate

They that dig foundations deep,
Fit for realms to rise upon,
Little honour do they reap
Of their generation,
Any more than mountains gain
Stature till we reach the plain.
—Rudyard Kipling
“The Pro-Consuls”

CONTENTS
Preface xi
Introduction: Images of the Arab Bureau 3
1 Flawed Foundations 11
2 Profile of a “Brilliant Constellation” 39
3 Growing Pains: The Hajj, Rabegh, and Monsieur Bremond 55
4 The Way of Wrong Impressions: The Arab Bureau and the Raj 79
5 Wrapping Bananas: The Arab Bureau’s Propaganda Dimension 101
6 A Stake in Disorder: In Pursuit of Arabian Balance 113
7 Discordant Mosaic: The Bureau and Arab Unity 135
8 “Un Fait Accompli”: The Bureau, the French, and Syria 149
9 Unease in a Promised Land: The Arab Bureau and Palestine 173
10 Demise and Eclipse 187
Conclusion: Triumph of Perversity 203
Notes 209
Bibliography 225
Index 233