The violence sparked by the Danish cartoons has yet to burn out. Dozens have been killed. It has sparked extensive discussion about freedom of the press. While interesting, there is another side of this issue that fascinates me - and may get to the crux of questions about reform and democratization.

I cannot imagine "rioting." I cannot imagine what would move me personally to join with a mob and wreak havoc. Were a community leader to incite me to do so I would be more likely to works towards that leader's removal from office. I understand that Muslims are offended. Other people around the world get offended at things that appear in the media. They write letters to the editor, organize peaceful demonstrations etc. All of this is legitimate. But, here in the U.S. at least, when a group is offended they do not riot or otherwise act violently - and when they do they are roundly castigated.

The whole point of "politics" is building a system where large numbers of people can live together and make the necessary decisions to survive - without resorting to violence. The readiness to turn to violence when dissatisfied is an enormous stumbling block to development. At the same time development (democracy, pluralism, property rights etc.) is the antidote.

Right now much of the Muslim world is caught in this terrible self-sustaining cycle in which tribal values, corrupt vicious governments, and radical Islam survive by encouraging popular, self-destructive anger. Many write about the role of Islam, but here are some thoughts on some other factors.

One particularly important issue is the Middle East, and more broadly the Muslim world's, high unemployment rates. (Here is an excellent report from MEMRI's Nimrod Raphaeli.) When young men cannot find work they cannot move up in the world. Besides more esoteric, but important, concerns like career satisfaction, it also means that they cannot get married (which in a highly traditional society means an involuntary vow of celibacy.) Lot's of young men with nothing to do and few prospects for finding a place is a recipe for enormous frustration. Maybe then I'd be rioting as well.

There are also tribal aspects to it. Back before 9/11 or even the al-Aqsa Intifada, when I was with MEMRI, we noted the high level of violence within Palestinian society. Iyad al-Sarraj, a well-known Gaza psychiatrist and no friend of Israel, wrote:

Searching for the reason, I do not ignore the depth of rage that was inflicted on our lives because of the [Israeli] occupation; but I do not want to hang everything on this peg, [a complaint] that is like a broken record in which Zionism, or the great imperialism, or even petty bourgeoisie, are blamed [for everything]. I want to be clear: one of the main reasons is within us, the result of the education in our homes. Aren't you, my dear reader, one of those fathers who are filled with happiness when your beloved two year old child pronounces the expression "... [damn] your father?!" Don't you dance with joy when he proves his virility by beating another child? Moreover, aren't you always encouraging him by saying "beat this guy, man. . . ."; or maybe you even act the role for him so he can follow your footsteps—for after all you are the supreme example for him – saying "watch how I beat this guy."

[Don't you] go berserk when you learn that your well-bred son was beaten by another kid at school and you would go there and grab the villain by the throat if you could, and teach your son how not to be a sheep amongst the wolves?!

...We teach our children that it is permitted to express anger with muscle; we even encourage them to do so in the belief that it is part of the meaning of courage and honor. By doing so, we forget the best part of our Arab heritage and Islamic religion, as well as all that is in Christianity: forgiveness, self-control, overcoming feelings of rage, patience, restraint, and using the mind. Don't be surprised that we shoot our guns and pistols at our festivities and we don't even learn when there are casualties - as if the gun has become a symbol of virility in the eyes of those who mislead themselves, those who also believe a mustache is the symbol of virility.

Unfortunately, some of what the PA does doubly damages the rule of the law. On the one hand, the PA tries to use the familial and tribal arrangements in various ways that neutralize the law, spread an atmosphere of nepotism, and encourage some to gain strength using the Authority itself, a political party, or the tribe. On the other hand, sending defendants in different cases to military courts [in the PA] undermines the independence and authority of the civilian judicial system. We must ask ourselves how we can establish a state ruled by the law when some of us were taught and encouraged to use beatings in order to take what they are entitled to, or what they delude themselves that they are entitled to.

That just about says it all.