Bazz

'It was always a revolt against states that failed in one way or another.'

Most ME countries were not failed states until they were destabilised by superpower forces. Before the brutal sanctions regime was imposed by the UN in 1991, Iraq was NOT a failed state. It had a high standard of living, relative social and gender equality and, under Saddam Hussein, had full school enrolment and increased its literacy rate to 96% by 1991- winning the UNESCO prize for literacy three years in a row (1986-1989).

Neither was Iran a failed state either before or after the 1979 revolution, or in the period since. As with Iraq, it had a high standard of living and high literacy rates. Authoritarian rule was no worse after the revolution than under the Shah - it was only after the CIA overthrow of Mossedeh in 1953 that authoritarian rule was enforced.

Libya under Gaddafi's Jamahariya government was one of the greatest of all the ME success stories, achieving by far the highest standard of living in Africa and one of highest in the Middle East.

Afghanistan did have a lot of political instability in the decades prior to the Soviet invasion, but it was gradually modernising and achieving important social reforms under the left-wing government of the 1970s - including equal rights for women and redistribution of land to farmers. Had it been left alone, it would have gradually developed as a modern progressive country - but the CIA funding and training of the Mujahadeen destroyed all hope of that, and the rest is history.

Much the same can be said of Egypt under Sadat - similar pattern.

In Western eyes, the problem with all these countries had nothing to do with Islam or jihad or internal political strife - even though all those issues did exist. The problem was that all these countries took the SOCIALIST path to development - and the US-led West was having none of that. All these countries were deliberately destabilised to prevent any rise of socialism as a potential threat to Western interests.

Egypt was not a failed state, it was just that its oil production had
peaked and the subsidies on food and fuel were raised.
Mubarak was deposed because of the cost of food.

Iraq was not a failed state, it was just that they gassed their own
people as well as the usual Sunni/Shia carry ons.

Syria was not a failed state it was just the usual Sunni/Shia carry on.

I think it is reasonable to say that the upheavals that occur in these
countries are an indication that those states fail because of their
mode of government with democracy banned by Islam.