The New York Times' Tom Friedman was once a keen observer of the Middle East. His latest here from MSN, has him sounding like a Neo-con, claiming Sunni Arabs seek honest representative governments and join violent outfits like ISIS when they can't get them.
If Arabs want honest, representative governments, how is it there are none in existence? There are probably a dozen or more Arab countries across the region and none of them have anything approaching true representation or honesty.
If anything the Middle East is known for the absence of these two characteristics. I am of the opinion that a rather special, not terribly common combination of cultural conditions have to be present for what we think of as multi-party representative government to exist.
Rejection of corruption is a key component. It's not absent in western nations, but we actually enforce laws which penalize it. The Madoffs and Skillings end up doing hard time.
Tom F. to the contrary, don't hold your breath waiting for fair dealing, true representative government and human rights to bloom in the Middle East. It's as likely there as in most notoriously corrupt Latin American or African countries. Key cultural components are not present.
