How come no Islamic Middle Eastern countries are democratic while Northern African or Southeast Asian Muslim countries (Senegal, Tunisia, Indonesia) are democratic? Does it have anything to do with Islam (since Israel is democratic) or does it have to do with oil or conflict (or something else)?

by velocacaptor
Localtyrant

Turkey and Iran are democratic. A significant portion of Israel is Muslim. Palestine (both parts) and Lebanon are arguably democratic. Their democracies may be different or younger than US democracy, but they involve mass elections to secure power that are more or less fair.

Perhaps another question would be why some middle eastern countries have democracy and others do not? Does religion work differently in them and/or play a role? What role does natural resources play?