hiː bᵻlˈiːvd ɪnðɪ ɪmpˈoːɹtəns ʌv bɹˈɪŋɪŋ təɡˌɛðɚ dˈɪfɹənt, bˌʌt ɹᵻlˈeɪɾᵻd, ɹˈiːdʒənz, wˈɛðɚɹ ɪnðɪ ˈæɹɐbˌɪk spˈiːkɪŋ wˈɜːld ɔːɹ ɪnðə mˌɛdɪɾɪɹˈeɪniən, æz kæn biː sˈiːn fɹʌmðə tˈaɪɾəlz ʌv tˈuː ʌv hɪz bˈʊks, də ˈɛljˈuːfɹeɪt ɐ ˈɛlˈætləz"fɹʌmðə juːfɹˈeɪɾiːz tə ðɪ ˈætləs", nˈaɪntiːnhˈʌndɹɪd sˈɛvənti ˈeɪt ænd mˈɛmwɑːɹz dˈɛs djˈuː ɹˈaɪvz"ɹˌɛkəlˈɛkʃənz fɹʌm bˈoʊθ ʃˈoːɹz ʌvðə mˌɛdɪɾɪɹˈeɪniən", nˈaɪntiːnhˈʌndɹɪd ˈeɪɾi nˈaɪn, ðə lˈæɾɚ dᵻskɹˈaɪbd baɪ ˈɜːnɪst dʒˈɛlnɚ, æz ɐ splˈɛndɪd ɐkˈaʊnt ʌv wʌt ɪt wʌz təbi ɐ pˈaɪdnwˈɑːɹ slˈoʊli kənvˈɜːɾᵻd tʊ ˈæntaɪkˈɑːloʊnˌɪəlˌɪzəm.
He believed in the importance of bringing together different, but related, regions, whether in the Arabic- speaking world or in the Mediterranean, as can be seen from the titles of two of his books, De l'Euphrate a l'Atlas ("From the Euphrates to the Atlas", 1978) and Memoires des deux rives ("Recollections from Both Shores of the Mediterranean", 1989), the latter described by Ernest Gellner, as 'a splendid account of what it was to be a pied-noir slowly converted to anti-colonialism'.