Trump isn’t the cause of the massive culture shift, but he is riding it like an expert surfer. Obama made Iran the top dog in the region. Obama backed ISIS, or at least did nothing to stop them. The rest of the Middle East is scared spitless of Iran and that ISIS might get a foothold in their territory. Saudi Arabia is so threatened that they are working a UGE culture change, including women driving, which is a much bigger deal than giving women the vote here was. The Saudis are starting a free trade city involving key players and close to Israel. Saudis have been in “secret” meetings with Israeli officials that have several times been leaked to the Israeli press. The recent missile attacks by “Yemini” forces on the Saudi capital have sent shivers through the region.
What is happening, or, in this case NOT happening in Palestinian territory is directly related. This is the biggest thing to happen, or, not happen, in the Middle East in my lifetime. If the world and Saudi Aribia pull off the culture change hinted at by the recent arrests in Saudi Arabia we could be looking at the most significant thing to happen to Islam in 1400 years.
No wonder Turkey and Iran are upset. Reforming Islam would take away much of their power.
Well said....sounds exactly correct to me. My yrs in the ME showed me to expect anything.
I’m very optimistic about what’s happening in the Middle East. We could see one hell of a cultural shift in a fairly short amount of time. Salman appears to be an effective driving force and Trump is playing along instead of seizing control and screwing it up in order to look like he’s “doing something.”
The Shah tried to “reform” Islamic society. So did Ataturk, and some guy in Tunisia whose name escapes me.
The problem is, the long-bearded goat-smelling fanatics that inevitably crop up and stage reactionary revolutions are looked upon, both by themselves and fellow Muslims, as “reformers” of the corrupting influence of Western culture. Economic prosperity cannot counter their siren calls, because prosperity and opportunity is frightening to poor Muslims, who in poverty at least know where they stand. The uncertainty of urbanization and higher living standards are seen as disruptive of semi-communal village life and its comforting stability, albeit in poverty.
What’s the solution? Maybe there is one.
“While Erdogan convened the OIC summit to condemn Trump’s announcement, notably the leaders of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates chose not to attend, with the Saudis sending only a junior minister. Attendance from Muslim countries in Africa and central Asia was similarly patchy. Significantly, the summit, while recognising east Jerusalem as Palestine’s capital, also effectively implied the OIC accepts Israel’s capital will be in the city’s west.”
I would love to know what Trump had to say to the various Saudi and other ME leaders he met with on that trip.