18 March 2011

The rise and fall of Muslim Dynasties

.... There is no evidence that the Saudi royal family will democratize to avoid this likely meltdown. As the late King Fahd once said, "A system based on elections is not within our Islamic creed." Ibn Khaldun could have predicted this more than six centuries ago. Corrupt Islamic regimes, he saw, did not bend. They broke.

The pampered and softened Saudi elites will be overwhelmed by new puritans who come from within or outside of their own borders. That day may be closer than we imagine. Perhaps Barack Obama should buy his own copy of Ibn Khaldun's works to understand what will come next. [National Post] Read more