July 31, 2006: Most Westerner's have become aware, because of the war on terror, that people in the Middle East view the world according to different standards. Perhaps the most important difference between the Middle East, especially the Arab world, and the West, is the attitude towards compromise. While Westerners see compromise as a path to success, Arabs see it as an admission of defeat. This attitude is reflected in many ways. For example, Arabs are more willing to accept religious absolutes ("all non-Moslems are scum"). The Middle East attitudes towards women, especially Arab acceptance of "honor killings" (murdering a women if she is even suspected of misbehavior), are part of this lack of nuance.
The Arab love for absolutes has also produced a culture that more readily accepts conspiracy theories. Indeed, the conspiracy theories are often preferable to reality. In this way, we get the common Arab willingness to blame all their woes on "others" (other Arabs, or, better yet, Westerners.)
After decades of avoiding problems, and solutions, because of these conspiracy theories, it has become fashionable among many educated Arabs to admit that, perhaps, many Arab problems are caused by things Arabs do, or don't do. That's a start, but the Arab preference for absolutes makes it very difficult to change. And democracy doesn't work that well either, for one of the cornerstones for a functioning democracy is compromise.
All of these bad habits, and even many Arabs will admit that the paranoia, blame-shifting and absolutism are bad, can be seen in Arab media. While many Arab journalists know they are putting out misleading, often counter-productive, garbage, it's what the markets still wants, what too many Arabs still respond to most enthusiastically.
Many Europeans are still willing to leave the Arabs alone as they work these problems out themselves. Eventually. But the United States decided it could not wait, after the events of September 11, 2001. This difference in attitudes towards Arab thinking has created a continuing rift between Europe and the United States.