), 'asabiyya is a force that informs the patriarchal family order that still underpins the structure of power in many Arab societies. In the past, as Hourani pointed out, a ruler with 'asabiyya was well placed to found a dynasty, since the merchant classes of the cities, untrained in the military arts and

. Issa from RJI. Mr. Issa, who had developed a rapport with the Kazakh president on an earlier visit, nonetheless agreed to take up the plight of Mr. Hourani. Though he stepped into the fight, he still maintained a close connection to the president, nominating him that summer for the Nobel Prize, a move th