Human collectives, including national collectives, have a political culture that is subject to unique characteristics. This says nothing about individuals in society, but these characteristics do explain much of the collective's behavior. Political culture is not a decree that necessarily dictates behavior, but rather it is pliable.
Zionism, for example, has dramatically changed the political culture of the Jewish people. In Turkey, there have been two profound changes in the political culture over the past century – the one led by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of modern-day Turkey, and the one led by current President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
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Attributing cultural characteristics to national groups is a sensitive issue, but it helps understand their behavior: Israelis are prone to impatience and blatant behavior; Germans are famous for their work ethics; Sweden and Norway are more tolerant than Pakistan or Afghanistan, etc.
Trying to understand economics, politics, science, and technology while ignoring all of these will lead you nowhere. Moreover, it is wise to remember that, when all is said and done, it is culture that shapes regimes more than the regimes dictate the culture.
Arab societies in the Middle East share many political culture characteristics – the stifling of social and political pluralism, the oppression of women and minorities, the frequent violence, and the systematic avoidance of using national resources to benefit the nation. All these can be attributed to their regimes' resounding failure in addressing the challenges of the 21st century.
Without taking into account all of this, it is impossible to understand how staggering resources, amounting to thousands of billions of dollars, are wasted on corruption and tribal wars that only breed chaos.
The worn-out excuses of colonialism, occupation, globalization etc. are also part of a snivelling political culture that is unwilling to accept responsibility for its failures, learn from them and rectify them.
Political correctness purists rule out the legitimacy of this whole cultural debate. Absurdly, they rule it out because the purist approach is essentially racist in nature.
They do not hold "post-colonial" nations responsible for their actions as they have a lifetime subscription to the Victims' Club. Anyone from a certain region or country, who belong to this club and is of the "right" ethnicity essentially has a license to suppress women, support terrorism, riot at any affront, possess illegal weapons and engage in so-called "honor killings."
Only those who patronize them can show "understanding" to this type of conduct and permanently exempt those practicing it for the responsibility to improve their situation.
As progressives, by default, tend to maliciously attribute to others what they did not say, it should be stressed that these characteristics of Arab political culture do not define the nature and behavior of any individual Arab, not are deterministic, let alone "genetic."
But the fact that they can change does not mean that they must change for the better, and soon. If anything, the most notable change in the Middle East in the last century – the rise of radical Islam – has undermined the chances of addressing the challenges of the 21st century.
Likening Middle Eastern culture to a "jungle" makes no analytical contribution to understanding the phenomenon. Denying the negative nature of these characteristics and their detrimental effect on the prospects of reaching a peace deal with the Palestinians, as well as on the Arabs' chances of curing what ails their society is an analytical and value-based failure.
