Archness aside: yes, it is of course Islam that I am thinking of. The problem is indeed compounded, as you say, by Arab culture-of-honor tribalism — but the dysfunction referred to in the report affects all Muslim nations, and does so in inverse relation to their degree of secularity. (It is not, after all, as if, say, Afghanistan or Pakistan are on the leading edge of global scientific or political progress.) Even Indonesia, perhaps the best counterexample, is facing an increasing groundswell of Islamic fundamentalism (as are all Muslim countries; this pull toward fundamentalism is an inherent and self-renewing feature of Islam), has a long history of autocratic government, and is beset by corruption and poverty.

Even if Islam is not the only factor dragging down the Arab world (it isn’t), it is certainly an important one, if not the primary one; for it not even to be mentioned in a lengthy analysis of the underlying causes of the region’s difficulties is just ridiculous. It is, as they say, the “elephant in the room” — but everyone is so terrified of criticizing religion, in particular Islam, that to identify it as such is simply not an option, it seems. It’s absurd, and would be laughable if it weren’t indicative of a very serious problem.

I’ve heard the term Dutch Disease to describe countries with massive resources yet diminishing human capital.

Jeffery Hodges

* * *

Too bad al-Mutawakkil didn’t have him around for counsel.

But then, all this is as baffling to me as it seems it is to you.

What’s really baffling to me is that this sort of bafflement can even exist betwixt us.

Looks like I’ll need a few more beers and a seconal.