Many consider the term the “Arab world” to be a misnomer, for while it identifies a linguistic region with deep historical, cultural and religious affinities it lumps together, say, a Dubai and an Aleppo. Yet many of those same people find it hard to remember a time when this region’s prospects looked more uniformly bleak. Everyone can discern the commercial vibrancy of a city like Dubai, and differentiate it from the apocalyptic ruins of Aleppo, the war-stricken business hub of Syria. But there is a pall of violence and upheaval that seems to envelop the region as a whole.
许多人认为“阿拉伯世界”这个词是个误称，因为它识别了一个具有深厚历史、文化和宗教渊源的语言区，但同时也把迪拜和阿勒波(Aleppo)归为一类。然而，其中不少人也认为，很难想起这一地区的整体前景有比现在看上去更加黯淡的时期。每个人都看得到迪拜那种城市的商业活力，并能把它跟受到战争摧残的叙利亚商业枢纽阿勒波的末日废墟区分开来。但是，一团暴力和动荡的乌云似乎笼罩着整个地区。