Sociology

Question 1.
Ranking of the Middle East countries from the most free (According to Freedom House).
Israel
Turkey
Kuwait
Jordan
Lebanon
Bahrain
Yemen
Palestine
Egypt
Oman
Qatar
United Arab Emirates
Iraq
Iran
Saudi Arabia
Syria


b. There are several reasons which explain why democracy has not prevailed in the Middle East region.

While most people are in favour of democracy in their respective countries, they oppose the imposition of the same by western countries which have attacked and occupied the Middle East ostensibly to plant democracy in a land where it does not exist. Arabs have to make an awkward choice between autocratic and theocratic regimes, and the occupying U.S. which is more interested in oil wealth than bringing democracy. Although they are in support of democracy in the home countries, the Arabs therefore oppose imposition of the same by the West.

Secondly, the same West which touts democracy and loudly makes known its mission to bring democracy to the Middle East has taken the frontline in negating the few gains made by the Arabs over the years. According to Baroud (2005), the U.S. supports leaders in the Middle East, only as long as their political views are congruent with the U.S and Israels.  To the U.S., it matters little whether the leader has the support of the people he leads. This was best exemplified in the CIA overthrow in 1953 of Iranian Prime Minister Mohammed Mossadegh who had established the first true democracy in the region.  The U.S. planted the pro-US dictator Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, thereby reversing the gains Iran had made towards building its democracy.

Rather than directly oppose the western model of democracy, Turkey has, from hundreds of years of interaction with the West, borrowed positive aspects of the western model, which it has gradually integrated into its leadership. The successive leaderships were wise to introduce democracy in phases, each building on the success of the former, and supporting the growth of the civil society (Lewis, 1994).

The separation of religion from the state, and the adoption of secularism has made it possible for Turkey to make home for its people regardless of their faith. The rest of the Middle East embraces state religions and uses it to oppress those of different faiths.

Popular satisfaction with leadership grows or fades depending on their economic circumstances. Leaderships in Turkey have over the years made deliberate efforts to promote economic growth and improve peoples living standards, making it one of the wealthiest countries in the region, despite lacking the massive oil wealth of Iran, Iran, UAE and Saudi Arabia.

Question 2.
A territorial dispute degenerated into full-blown wars between Iraq and Kuwait in 1973 and 1976. By arguing that the British had changed the original boundaries, Iraq was intent on taking control of the latters oilwells and ports, which were initially inside Iraq. Iraq occupied the militarily weaker Kuwait in 1990, only to be expelled the following year at the height of the Gulf War.

The eight-year-long First Persian Gulf War seemed to split the world into pro-Iran and pro-Iraq. While Iran had the support of Syria, Iraq was backed by the U.S., European powers and the USSR. These seriously weakened Iran by imposing heavy embargoes on Iran. The war only ended when the UN made Iraq and Iran to sign a resolution to end the war.

The West had for years expressed fears that Saddam Husseins Iraq harboured nuclear weapons which endangered global security. In 2003, The U.S., with the support of French, U.K., Canadian, and Australian troops attacked Iraq due to fears that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. The Iraq War continues today and although some countries have pulled out or reduced the number of troops in the country, Iraq is still occupied by foreign forces.

Oil wealth has been at the heart of most of the wars occuring in the Middle East.  This has been true of wars fought within countries, such as the Baath Party attacks on the Kurds in northern Iraq, as well as those involving two or more countries.

Although Muslims have contributed to their own misery, the West has made the situation worse by intervening, and starting wars in order to take control of the oil-rich regions. By overthrowing elected governments and occupying Muslim countries, the West makes the region more volatile and cripples Muslims attempts at stabilizing their own region.

Question 3.
The Muslim world is known for lack of freedom of speech and other freedoms and rights common in democratic nations elsewhere (Pryor, 2007). The Muslim world is however not alone in restricting peoples freedom, as non-Muslim countries including China are known to curtail their peoples freedom of speech (Akin, 2010). It is however tru that lack of freedom of speech in the Muslim world does contribute to lack of other freedoms. Leaderships of these countries are sure that they can perpetrate crimes and other evils yet escape reprisal from the people. Despotic leaders like Saddam Hussein could thus abuse their people with abandon. Practices as backwardly as honor killings and female circumcision are still widespread, but opponents may not speak against such practices for fear of attracting thw wrath of the government. The few who criticize their governments have to first escape and criticize from the safety of the countries of refuge. Islamic teachings do not necessarily prey on freem of speech. The problem is the interpretations the paternalistic Muslim leaders give to their religious teachings. Religious leaders in the Muslim society interpet the religious writings as to restrict the freedom of women and other minority groups including non-Muslims.