Middle East

The Mideast’s Humpty Dumpty Problem

Yet we cannot fall into despair simply because the process is a long one — as it was in the West. Some of these difficulties simply reflect the human condition — everywhere. But a prioritization of the urgent human needs of the region is required — to provide at least some crude compass in dealing with this mess.

For now, whether governments are Islamist (but not jihadi), military, democratic, pro-West or pro-Russian may not matter much while the restoration of order is taken as the urgent task at hand. This is not a very gratifying approach, but war — civil or externally visited — takes the greatest human toll and produces the deadliest of anarchy whose repercussions affect the entire world.