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The problem is that you cannot rule with ideology; it becomes too vague and PC-based in an instant. You must have a properly codified law, courts, police and a military to rule successfully for more than a generation.

A single ruler can prosper on personal charisma, and his son may linger on for a while, as long as people remember dad. But then the regime itself ends unless it has codified itself. Look at North Korea, Burma and Haiti, possibly soon Cuba. .....

And with that they remove the codified tradition. That is to their peril.

Note that last summer the major Islamic clerics agreed to set up a common islamic seminary for the first time in history. They were exceptionally moderate in their claims, all of them.

Once established there will be someone who can stop people like the Hamas, bin Laden, Saddam et al when they take God's name in vain. I look forward to that.

Well, they codified some laws as well, but let the existing courts go on with their business.

Wasn't it about oil?

Islam behaves like the "low chuch". They even let laymen in to do surprisingly important tasks.

Replace "older" with "elder" above, and it still holds.

In sume quarters the Mullahs are a lot younger and more radical now.

The biggest problem in the Arab world isn't religion, it is the dirigiste dictatorships; and lack of a small business clbutt that can grow. The infrastructure is not stellar, but it largely works, and access to capital can be arranged.

Ideas and movements are stifled, so there are no new Google's, Walmarts or Starbucks; so there is unemployment and poverty. The islamists are surprisingly business-friendly and can contribute lots in terms of development; but they haven't learnt moderation.

That leads down the Taliban-bin Laden route. Where is the Calvin?

Contrast this to Indonesia; which was getting ready to explode in 1996. Now everyone is busy for themselves. It could have been managed better; and still is mired in structural problems and poverty; but the right problems are being addressed by the nation.

It has become one due to exceptionally inept management from the US.

We will have to get to terms with this religous awakening that is moving across a fourth of the world. We cannot shoo it away.

Unfortunatly not. He is a dangerous loose cannon with his own agenda.

Fools rush in where Angels fear to thread.

Largely, yes. They see that the cart is largely in front of the horse, but there are no checks and balances shown.

There may be more than meets the eye here. The policy shift happened when Nixon saw the intelligence from the Yom Kippur war; and he instantly defended Israel. That was not a natural nixonian move. He preferred to let others wear each other down. He played China against the USSR, and was a master at sabotaging reds from unexpected corners.

But Israel used to be the protege of England and France, with the US a silent bystander. It would have been Nixon's natural reaction to arrange someone else's support for Israel. Perhaps there was no time.

There must have been a secret showdown here, and it is weird that the full story still cannot be told.

No.

The current messages from al-Queda are addressed to muslims. They go through the motions of satisfying the Quran's demands for going to war; first to seek peace etc.

He is shoring up his defense for something. That makes it more worrying.

-- mrr