Why Washington is always missing the point on the Middle East

Because they rely on wrong informations .
I was reading this article by Marc Lynch, trying to analyse why the Arab springs have not taken place yet, not in full swing at least, in the countries of the Gulf .
The reasoning evolves around the issue of absolute monarchies .
It goes completely off track .
I am sure, as I read on his biography, that he is a great academic, but I assume he has no experience on the ground .

First of all, we can't forget the role played by Western powers prior and during the springs, and so we need to consider the different type of relation, each European country and America had with the rulers and governments of Maghreb .
Different relations mean different impacts on their economies as well, other than the political level .
The monarchies of the Gulf have always been more independent in their alliances with the West .

Then there are different traditions and culture .
The tribal environment in the Gulf is pretty different than that of Northern Africa .
This turns also into different approaches toward life, which is one of the reasons why, there have been light revolts which up to now brought no real revolution .
The rulers in the Gulf area deeply know his people and always worked for them .
Never took away from them the wealth coming from the oil, and never gave it to them just as money .
But they always gave them the best in terms of services, such as schools, hospitals and benefits .
Contrary to what was happening in Africa, they did their best to empower their people .
This is something probably unknown here, due to negative reports from the press, but it is the reality .
And the religion as well, despite differences in sects, unites people with their rulers .

Monarchs in the Gulf never gave up on their relationships with the people .
They always worked for them but of course made mistakes .
This is why in any kind of rebellion from Oman to Bahrain, the rage of the people was mostly against corruption of the middle men without holding rulers responsible .
There is a small number of persons who think otherwise, but for now they are a minority .

This is the point that few in the rooms of power in the West, cannot understand .