By Edward Nawotka

Earlier this month on Publishing Perspectives Egyptian e-book publisher Ramy Habeeb argued that Western publishers had a responsibility to bring “pluralism” to the Middle East publishing community, something they can do by participating in the rebirth of the free and open Egyptian publishing industry.

“Our responsibility is to introduce new perspectives,” he says. “When you’re watching the news there is the fear that a fundamentalist regime will take over as it did in Iran, but the best way to fight that is through education, through a demonstration of the pluralistic world we live in. You have to make sure all views are represented.”

Unfortunately, for many Western publishes the Middle East and North African markets were impenetrable for many years — for a combination of political, cultural and economic reasons. But, in light of the recent political action across North Africa and Middle East, the landscape for publishers to explore the region for opportunities has never been better.