Arab socialism Arab socialism Arab socialism () is a political ideology based on an amalgamation of Pan-Arabism and socialism. Arab socialism is distinct from the much broader tradition of socialist thought in the Arab world, which predates Arab socialism by as much as fifty years. The term "Arab socialism" was coined by Michel Aflaq, the principal founder of Ba'athism and the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party, in order to distinguish his version of socialist ideology from the international socialist movement. Michel Aflaq, the co-founder of the Ba'ath Party and Ba'athist thought, coined the term Arab socialism. Socialism was a major tenet in Ba'athist
Saddam Hussein the Arab world. John Esposito, however, claims that "Arabs and Muslims were pulled in two directions. That they rallied not so much to Saddam Hussein as to the bipolar nature of the confrontation (the West versus the Arab Muslim world) and the issues that Saddam proclaimed: Arab unity, self-sufficiency, and social justice." As a result, Saddam Hussein appealed to many people for the same reasons that attracted more and more followers to Islamic revivalism and also for the same reasons that fueled anti-Western feelings. As one U.S. Muslim observer noted: "People forgot about Saddam's record and concentrated on America ...