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Democracies in all Middle Eastern countries you say? Clearly one who even proposes such an idea has no clue about the Middle East. The analysts and pundits talk of democracy like it's an antidote. But truth be told, the notion that only democracies will bring stability to the region is false.

Let me be clear. I live in the USA, where I enjoy all the manifest tangibles and intangibles that are the fruit of the very democracy we would like to perpetuate. I would like no better than for all the nations in the Middle East to adopt this system, but this is not going to happen.

The Middle East of which we speak really refers to the Muslim countries to which Islam is deeply rooted in the national identity, and this is the context within which we have to frame an argument for democracy. While western countries can create and maintain the division between church and state, such division between mosque' and state is virtually impossible. Any policy that is crafted would have to use either of these standpoints as its terms of reference.

My view is that there is no dichotomy, and that Islam is deeply embedded to an extent that we have to simply accept. We need to create policies that take this into account. And what would aid this process is a real attempt to understand Islam beyond the sound-bites and stereotypical view. The question begs, is it really possible to look at Islam objectively?

For those with an understanding of Islam, the majority of believers are taught that God revealed their book, the Koran, and sent messengers and prophets over time, culminating with the last prophet, Muhammad (p.b.u.h). However, there are over seventy different sects of Islam (of which Sunni and Shia are two of the most prominent) which differ to some extent. Essentially, all of them share the idea that Islam governs all aspects of life, including government.

The crux of the dilemma in the Middle East is the interpretation of Islamic law, or Sharia. It's through their interpretation that the world recoils at the status of women, the severity of punishments for adultery and the like, which has all lead to the conclusion that this is Islam as the rule and not the exception. And the fact that these are the interpretations rise to the fore of the news, and are apparently in the majority, further give credence to this conclusion, which makes it difficult to convince otherwise.

Recall if you will the time when slavery was the rule and not the exception. We've all read stories of the Middle Passage

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