[lehighguy]

Force of arms also changed the West. Force of arms changed Germany and Japan in WWII. Let's not forget the people of those countries choose those governments. Korea too was changed by force of arms.

There are societies you can change through trade and relations (USSR). However, there are some societies that can't be changed by simple relations (Nazi-Germany, North Korea). Iran is the same. It doesn't matter if the local people in Iran don't like the government (they don't) because they are powerless to change things. If you want them to change society you have to give them the power to do so.

In China we give people power by giving them wealth. Trade and commerce will create a new class of powerful private citizens who will have the power to challenge the government. The Chinese government knows this, but has no choice but to allow free enterprise. This is because they can't rely on natual resources (oil) to prop up thier regime.

Since the ME dictatorships can rely on oil revenues to fund thier police forces, they don't need to rely on popular support at all. That's what makes the existence of the Arab moderate completely worthless.

There are two ways to break the hold of the ME dictatorships. The best way is to invent alternative fuel sources that are more efficient then oil. I don't think conservation will really help that much. If we conserve and the price goes down the Chinese or someone else will simply start using more oil. Only be inventing a new power source that makes it so people don't WANT to use oil will we break the backs of these regimes. This is what makes Bush's energy policy and funding cut to the sciences to reprehensible.

The less desireable option, though the only one available to us because of current forseeable science, is to remove these dictators through force of arms, and give power to the people. If the Arab population is really comprised mainly of moderates that want to build peaceful governments then the people will elect such leaders.