I'm going to jump right in.  Corruption in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) is not just political anymore.  It's now the way of life in the region.  I won't pick on war-ridden countries like Iraq, Sudan, etc., but I sure can talk about countries of the gulf (like Saudi or Kuwait), Egypt or even Jordan.

The leaders of the countries are interested in very few things:  Lining their pockets with more of the money that belongs to the people, controlling their crowd to continue lining their pockets, protecting their borders to ... you guessed it ... continue ripping off the country, its people and milking its resources for personal gain, and getting a power trip from it all while doing so.

In the meantime, the people are busy trying to make ends meet.  And when the World economy forces things to go a certain direction, it's the leaders that suffer the lack of control, and ultimately the shift from government owned and controlled to people run.  But that's mostly true for non-oil countries.  Oil rich ones have a monopoly and have a cow that they can milk.  So how else can the corrupt leaders make it?  Well, they start to sell off land, rights, etc.  Resources that belong to the country, and therefore to the people, are being auctioned off to the highest bidder.  And worse, they make such rules as no motorcycles to force the population to drive cars in a country where only the government controls the price of gas.  Others take what was once a republic with an elected official down a constitutional loop hole, like a "state of emergency," for decades on end.  And when it's been a few decades, have the audacity to change the law allowing their heir to succeed them.  One can only guess what happens should any one or party object to that.

Worse, the corruption in the MENA region has crossed the line with regards to human rights.  Corrupt leaders are using their positions to control the angry crowd before it even gets angry.  If a neighboring country has problems that may spill over, those corrupt leaders are quick to lock-down the borders locking out their very own citizens!  Then, cancel all religious sessions since a congregation means the people will talk even when the clergy have been threatened not to do so.  Finally, they break out the rubber bullets to prevent any crowd from forming in protests and the like.  Yet, the very same leaders ... the very same governments are hailed in Europe and in the Americas as democracies!

Keep in mind that these are countries that, by definition, should not be "countries" in the first place.  Their borders were dictated to them, and they cannot maintain their sovereignty without any major help; mainly from NATO, the UN or the US.

The people are now dealing with countries whose leaders are selling their lands from underneath them, changing policies & prices on the fly and much much worse.  All this corruption is forcing the people down a road of "so what, I gotta live" attitudes.  The display of frustration is evident with things as simple as littering to something as trivial as driving.  With the former, people are compromising their morals in favor of "the country can pick it up; I'm not benefitting any other way" to the mundane, but true thought, that "at least it creates jobs."  I'll touch on unemployment here in a minute.

One would be surprised that to this day, there is no central water in much of the MENA region (even in major cities), and people still rely on water trucks to deliver and fill their rusting tanks atop of buildings.  In poorer regions of some these countries, the sewer system is no more than a man-made canal that's less than half a foot wide running along side-roads out in open air.

God knows I could spend hours on how law enforcement is conducted and carried out in almost all of the MENA region.  The gulf region in particular suffers the most injustice from the corrupt law officers.  Picture yourself, as a foreigner in their land despite being of the same religion and/or speaking the same basic-language, getting involved in an accident that was without a doubt the other but local's fault.  You have witnesses and all.  When the police arrives, they'll ask the local involved in the accident marginalizing you and not allow you to talk.  Should you do so anyways, it's something like "obstruction of justice" and you're thrown in jail until someone feels better, or your embassy intervenes.  Which, if you're not from a "western" country, you might as well be forgotten.  Need I say more?  Let's leave this alone for now, and go back to the topic at hand.

Imagine people whose income is 250 units (pretend a unit is dollars, pounds, dinars, whatever) per month.  A pair of good shoes, let's say Reebok's or Nike's, are still 50 to 80 units.  Perhaps that's not a good measure; so indulge me for a bit and allow me to illustrate it with housing.  Rent is 90 to 110 units for a 2 to 3 bedroom apartment; and you better have had a long-term lease (measured in years) to secure it.

Does the population pay taxes?  Only sales tax, which's usually paid for by the selling companies and not passed on like it is in the States.  It's not unusual to see the sales tax in the MENA region in double digits.  Go to Google and type "Sales Tax [put MENA country name]" Oh, and then there's taxes on all imports; and they're not small by any measure, of course.  You cannot even receive personal packages more than once every 6 months in some (if not all) countries; otherwise, you're subjected to import taxes, fees and God knows what else (hmmm, I wonder how bribes are born?).  All this makes economic advancement difficult; never mind things like internet-driven commerce (eCommerce).

So if you're an individual trying to make ends meet, you're likely going to borrow money; but credit cards are only for the wealthy, and the banks aren't eager to lend out money to individuals with these type of average salaries.  And by banks, I mean the one or two that are country/government-driven; and a few outsider (other country) banks. 

The paper work, whether it be to purchase a home (assuming you have the money), the procedure to add a newborn to your family roster (a family social security card, if you will), obtain a passport, a death certificate, or register a family member, etc. is all chaotic.  Forget the use of computers.  The runaround one gets, and the amount of rear-end kissing one must do just to get things done is insane.  Throw in how they handle the paperwork itself, how they talk to you, the never-ending-smoking inside government offices (where "no smoking" signs are, mind you) and you have people begging to get out of the long lines in any way possible.  The person at the window now feels enough power to control your life!  Break time simply means they walk away regardless of whether or not they started or have taken possession of your paperwork.  A dash of smoke in your face, with a generous dose of attitude, which comes from the power of being behind that window with a small circle; and having your original-only-copy paperwork in their hand; and it's no surprise that people are not obiding by any lines.  You come back to the line just to ask for a status; and that goes on for hours and hours.  Rest assured that come closing time (or even a tad earlier), they'll leave without ever telling you.  Oh well, you just have to come back the next day, I guess.

Outside many of these "government offices" are carts of people helping you find the correct forms, fill out your paperwork, taking & providing you with photos, getting it notarized, etc. all for a nominal fee  —Run by once-frustrated entrepreneurs.  The ironic part is that these cart-people know best about what you need as a prerequisite, the correct forms, etc.  God knows you're not likely to get the answer from anyone behind a window.  The cart-people are worth every penny they charge.  They'll even help you with where to go if you're at the incorrect office. 

"Incorrect office," you ask? Yes, they're not all at one spot.  You go there to authenticate this piece and only a stamp from that one other place is acceptable, go to this (one & only) authorized background check (imagine the line there), etc.  All for what?  To add your newborn, despite a hospital-stamped birth certificate in hand, to your family roster ... essentially to present a document when needed (and it's requested often) to prove that your newborn is really yours.

Guess what?  That frustration has now spilled into the lines at the bakery, and other like shops.  The need to borrow money is now commonplace amongst employees & employers.  "Can I get an advance on my paycheck?"  Employers are quickly finding themselves paying their employees in advance instead of work rendered.  As an employer, you best oblige; otherwise, you risk losing that employee and you start over in a country where turnover is very high (how else do you skip out on money owed?). 

It gets worse.  Anyone who can afford to pay rent for a store-front usually jumps at the opportunity.  A few bucks in the pocket of a once-every-five-years unfortunate visit by an inspector and you're set to go.  Losing a seasoned employee means that they know your business and how it's run enough to open a store-front right next to you ... literally, right next door!  Nope, no licenses are enforced.  Fruit and vegetable stands along a highway is very normal.  Of course, when the government cracks down on a place, they're screwed.  It's simply jail time.  But that usually means that you couldn't afford to pay off the inspector.

From this, oddly, quality is born; especially in restaurants.  You see, unclean ones can exist and flourish.  After all, who's inspecting them?  People, however, drift towards the cleaner more organized establishments, naturally.  Unclean establishments quick wither away.  As the clean ones rise to the top, however, guess who pays them a visit?  You get the idea.  They are suddenly bombarded with license requirements that others aren't / weren't required to have.

There are no checks & balances that require a food place to have prior to renting or even opening.   As you can see, competition has a whole new meaning now.  You are better off remaining small; otherwise, your own employees, if they don't leave to open next door to you, will complain to the nearest inspector to spite you.

Don't get me started on driving, tickets, etc.  I'll say only this, the police are only there to collect the money and rarely to enforce any laws posted (if they're posted).  The only offense I see enforced is speed.  But 3 or more cars to a two lane street is absolutely fine.  Double parking at a store front (in view of a police officer) is also fine.  No seatbelts are required (although there's a new initiative in most MENA countries about that now).  I don't think you can find a child seat any where in most of the non-oil countries.  Kids are free to sit in the lap of anyone anywhere in the car including that of the driver.  Should a police officer stop you (usually for another offense like speeding), he'll advise you on the unsafe driving and that the baby is best with the passenger or in the back seat.

As you can see, I could go on and on about that; but I've yet to talk about the impact of that corruption on us here in the US.  I'll give you a glimpse, but will save it for another post:  American exporters lose out on foreign deals because they are not allowed, under U.S. law, to pay bribes to foreign officials. For American companies, the payment of bribes to foreign officials is a criminal act and, of course, the bribes paid cannot be deducted as costs for tax purposes. Often this is not the case for their competitors from many of the other advanced industrialized countries.

Want more?  I saved this exerpt from a reading once (can't recall the source ... sorry):
"Corrupt countries often tend to be failed states, thus presenting the U.S. with a series of potential and real problems. Each poses a threat to the U.S. not from adversarial power and weaponry, but from weakness and inability to control what happens on its territory. In fact a broad band of weak and failed states—in the greater Middle East, as well as from South and Central Asia to Africa and the Caribbean—can harbor terrorists and drug traffickers, and spark humanitarian disasters. Ironically, these weak and ineffectual states have the ability to undermine global economic growth and prosperity .

These realities hit home with the September 11th attacks. At that time it became all too apparent to U.S. policymakers that economic stagnation, widespread unemployment, and the lack of democracy and freedom—all caused direct, or indirectly by corruption—were driving many young people in the Middle East and North Africa [MENA] towards extremism and terrorism. The World Bank concurs, identifying corruption as the single biggest obstacle to economic development, estimating that corruption-related activities reduce world income by five percent, or more than $1.5 trillion a year."  I do think other bigger reasons are at play here.  Amongst them are oppression beyond corruption.  Beyond institutions and governments, invidiuals who hold minor positions in impacting public life are abusing the very people they serve.  And I'm not talking about mayors or the like.  Instead, I'm talking about a police officer or a demotivated government office clerk behind a window.

Ask any Arab about "waasta."  The word in practice means "connection."  As in "do you have a connection in this office?"  That's how things get done, you see.  If you don't have a connection, you better plan for a day or two of waiting ... and that's with a whole lot if kissing behinds.  And if you're an older person or a lady, you're pretty much screwed.  Simply because the younger stronger men are more pushy at those lines.  And God is my witness that they have the lungs of an elephant given all the smoke they consume while standing in line alone.

The US Navy reports, from Manuel Paulo and Alex Vines, “Blessing or Curse,” The World Today 60:5 (May 2004), pp. 26-27:  "In many Middle East countries, corruption has become endemic.The existence of pro-American, yet autocratic regimes in the region is no longer a guarantee for lasting stability or even prosperity. Many of the region’s oil states, for example, have found that resources alone do not produce stability or prosperity. In these economies corruption, and the potential for instability it creates, often occurs as a result of weak institutions, the absence of government procurement and auditing systems, and a lack of revenue transparency."

That's corruption from the people's own governments.  And what eases one's problems?  The problems of someone else, of course.  Guess where the majority of the atrocities, which temporarily make you forget about your own problems but incite deeper feelings, originate?  Yup, it's relatives separated by the very dictated borders who got stuck on the other side.  In the MENA region, that other side is only in the one & only Israel.  There are folks in far-away Morocco (at least the distance between Florida and California) that have relatives oppressed in today's Israel.  Closer Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and I'll even say Saudi all share a border (with the exception of Saudi) have family just across that imposed border line.

Unemployment is around 10% in most of these countries, and they have nothing but the news to ease their pain.  Except that the news is of others suffering more than their own.  It's very common to think "we're suffering at the hands of idiots from our own.  But they are suffering at the hands of bigots hiding behind the Jewish religion, which were put there with force by a foreign power that once occupied the land ... our land ... by force."  It's no wonder they smoke so much.  They're living under corrupt leaders, in drained countries with people that are less caring with every passing day seeing their relatives get slaughtered on the news across a border created by foreign powers.  Think about it.

For those in the States, imagine that you were born in Ohio and your family is now living in Kentucky.  Your uncles, aunts, cousins, grandparents, etc. are all still in Ohio.  Now imagine that Ohio now belongs to Canada because England declared it so.  Work with me.  Now imagine the Canadians kicking your extended family out of their homes into refugee camps and is making that area new residential areas for Canadians only.  Would you still call Canada a democracy?

Let's make this more interesting and imagine that your extended family went out to protest and one of them got killed in the process by the Canadian army?  Still feel it's OK?  Great, now imagine that the reason your immediate family is in Kentucky is because you were originally kicked out of Ohio and your land/house was annexed by Canada.  Let it all sink in for a moment.  Now ... imagine that the bullets that killed your family member, and many others ... families of others ..., were continuously supplied by France.  That France recognizes Canada's right to protect its legitimacy, its people, its borders, etc.

You don't have to turn to violance, I agree.  But can you say the same about your extended family in this example?  Can you say the same if a few generations went by and more & more of your immediate and extended family is part in now Canada, and the other is outside of it?

That's the tip of the iceberg, I swear to you.  I haven't put curfews or walls to separate you, barb wire, shut down water or electricity at unexpected and extended periods, jailed and tortured those you loved and cared about, etc.  Still think Canada is a democracy?  Now be fair and tell me that violance, as unacceptable as it is, is not ... I don't want to say "justified" but at minimum "understandable."  I'm positive that malitia would form in the first month of all that happening within the now-Canadian-Ohio and all around it.

Any ways, that's enough for one post.  We'll touch base later.