Fareed Zakaria Quotes
Even oil wealth will not insulate a country from modernity forever.
He was commenting about Saudi Arabia, but oil wealth generally seems to harden nations to reform and change of all types.
Fareed Zakaria, Editor, Foreign Affairs, Time & Newsweek International, Commentator and Host, The Global Public Square, CNN Global Public Square, May 20, 2012
Sourced by: Eigen's Political and Historical Quotations
10 centuries ago was a time when the Arabs were far more advanced and modern than other cultures including the Christian West that was in the Dark Ages. However, in the 12th century there was a “closing”—a narrowing of allowable Islamic thinking, and since then, Islamic people have had great difficulty with change or modernity. Not all Muslim nations are equally rigid but the Arabs are at the extreme among Islamic counties.
In China, the religious activities of the Missionaries never really lead to the many troubles between the missionaries and the Chinese. It was their activities in the non-religious arenas articulated here by Denby.
The changes he wrought were many and profound and were rejected years later when his party was voted out of office so markedly that the only retained 2 seats in the parliament and lost their status as an official Canadian party.
Historically, there are two situations where major changes are made in societies: 1) After great crises—wars, depressions, plagues etc. 2) At times of great prosperity when people are feeling very generous and magnanimous.
Fareed Rafiq Zakaria is an Indian-American journalist, political commentator, and author. He is the host of CNN's Fareed Zakaria GPS and writes a weekly paid column for The Washington Post. He has been a columnist for Newsweek, editor of Newsweek International, and an editor at large of Time.
