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Is it stable?Reader comment on item: [Oman:] The Middle East's Most Surprising Country Submitted by Anon (United States), Mar 17, 2017 at 02:13 The worry with any well functioning Muslim country is whether the gains are lasting or whether the country can quickly slide into chaos. The fall back when it comes to Muslim countries seems always in the direction of a theocracy and this doesn't bode well for the future. Imagine that Oman has a prolonged economic slump that weakens its institutions - in such a scenario which way is Oman likely to turn to? A cursory look at the Islamic world suggests Oman will likely take a turn towards theocracy and this is the perennial problem. I used to hear a lot of good things about Turkey and I am not sure if those good things hold today. A strong man seems to be a must to hold any muslim country from slipping into a theocracy. If you contrast this with non Muslim countries - they have the opposite characteristics. For the West it is obvious. For Eastern countries like Japan, Korea etc these countries don't have equivalent problems - their stability doesn't ever seem to be at risk. Even North Korea and Cuba will clearly be better off when their respective despotic rulers are removed (even if it takes a little bit of time). Only in the Islamic world do we see countries that are worse off when a dictator is removed. Strangely I can show you a Muslim country that will be better off when its dictators are removed: Iran. But it is the only one. Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments". Reader comments (14) on this item
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