Can Democracies Ever Make It In The Middle East?

Was catching up on the news and Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir was  addressing as to why the Saudis were breaking relations with Iran.

All this turmoil between these two began after Saudi Arabia executed of a Shi'ite Muslim cleric and other alleged terrorists. Well,  the Saudi regime is composed of one of the most brutal group of thugs in the world and the executions were just to keep the regime in power.

If this blog writer was to be living in either Saudi Arabia or Iran, my head would be chopped off offering  a commentary about either of these dictatorships that definitely do not allow any criticism of their regimes.

And depending how the political  wind is blowing, both  are sometimes referred to as friends of the United States.

As repugnant as dictatorships and theocracies are to this very spoiled American, it gives one pause as to think that maybe the region of the Middle East may be better served by despots in power---all who deserve a quick bullet to their heads for their brutality.

As evidenced with the Saudis and Egypt, that despite our long history of supporting world democracies, United States policy makers still like despots in power as long as they are pro-American.

When the Arab spring began in large part  due to the influence of social media upon the youth of the regions, one could not help but be awed that perhaps brutal leaders were going to be justifiably dispatched with and replaced with a democracy.

Unfortunately, it did not happen and the region was plunged into utter chaos with more people being killed and displaced than ever before.   ISIS was one of many groups of sadists who filled the vacuum.

So this American  sadly wonders is the Middle East ever able to handle democratic traditions or do the people actually prefer thugs running their lives versus the alternative of anarchy.

The modern Middle East is not the only region of the world in that has embraced dictatorships.  Freedom House has a great interactive map showing with  freedom scores of the world's nations.  

Source Freedom House:  Freedom In The World 2015 Maps

The question if some regions can handle a democracy is not only relevant to the Middle East but also of course to other nations of the world.   But unlike some of the other regions, a Middle East in turmoil seems to spill over the entire world and impacts most nations.

But in reality, can democracies really ever thrive in the Middle East?   

Iraq was President Bush's  experiment of overthrowing the brutal Saddam Hussein which was to be replaced with a regime which would be democratically elected and of course be a friend of the United States.

Well, Iraq was a disaster and has splintered into many factions and is a friend of the much hated Iran. (Americans are to hate Iran because Israel does and Israel is America's 51st state!)

Egyptians on their own over threw President Hosni Mubarek.  And when their  newly elected President Mohamed Morsi was viewed as a threat to the status quo military, he was ousted, imprisoned, and replaced in a new "election" with Abdel Fattah el-Sisi from the former Mubarek regime.

No matter what a person's  nationality or religious belief---Egyptian, Israeli, American, Canadian, Muslim, Atheist, Russian, Syrian, Chinese, Catholic,   etc., when tortured it hurts.   All nationalities grieve when family members are imprisoned or executed.   All peoples need water, shelter, food, and a way to make a living.

But are there some regions of the world that the people are incapable of managing a democracy? Or have the large economic super powers made it virtually unlikely democracies can succeed due to their influence?