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The democratization of the Middle East is a lofty goal that can only be achieved when it's encouragement is achieved by taking the long view and incorporating the existing social institutions into democracies that reflect the culture of the Middle East not that of Western nations trying to force their democratic or republican models of government on a vastly different culture.

The recent history of the Middle East is one that grew directly out of colonialism and the current borders of the various nation states in the region are primarily the result of western intervention in the region. The current borders of the various nations in the region were largely defined by colonial powers as they exited the region, leaving regimes in power that would protect their own strategic economic and military interests to fill the power vacuum.

Historically, the nations of the Middle East are primarily comprised of widely disparate ethnic and religious groups that are held together by a combination of tribal, aristocratic, brute force, and religious interests.

The region has been the social and economic battlefield of various interests for several thousand years reaching back to a history of feuding states from Rome, Greece, Persia, Egypt, and various empires that have risen and fallen leaving the region with remnants of these groups scattered throughout the nations that exist today which were defined by the former colonial powers.

Outside of Israel, the closest model for a modern middle eastern democracy of significance is Turkey. Turkey's democratic government is subject to checks in power via the frequent intervention of a secular military in governmental affairs to prevent the government from tilting toward some of the more extreme religious interests of the populace.

Democracy is an evolutionary form of government that is dependent upon a wide variety of factors. In Turkey, the military has served as a fairly well restrained guiding hand to usher in the development of institutions that did not exist after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire.

There are key ingredients to the development of any democracy. The development of secular interests, the incorporation of elements of a meritocracy in established aristocratic and tribal structures, the development of an economic middle class with significant financial influence, the encouragement of a mobile population, and the implementation of diverse institutions of higher learning.

To bring about the democratization of the Middle East,

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