reforms since survival becomes a higher priority. Some analysts point to MENA's saturation with Islam as an explanation for the region's failure to democratize. Other analysts believe that the failure of democratization results from the power of the state. Inspired by Skopcol's work on revolution, Belin argues that democratic transition can only be carried out when the state's coercive apparatus lacks the will or capacity to crush opponents. Authoritarianism has been exceptionally robust in the MENA region because many of the states have proven willing and able to crush reform initiatives. Moreover, almost every Arab state has been directly involved in some form of international conflict over the past decades. Research suggests that conflict involvement has a direct influence on the country's prospects for democratization. However, critics of these theories observe that some countries which experience many of these democracy-inhibiting factors are successful in their quest for democratization. See also Human rights in the Middle East Human trafficking in the Middle East LGBT in the Middle East Islam and modernity Middle East and globalization Women in the Arab world United States foreign policy in the Middle East American democracy promotion in the Middle East and North Africa Freedom in the World List of freedom indices References External links Marina Ottoway, et al., "Democratic Mirage in the Middle East", Carnegie Endowment for Ethics and International Peace, Policy Brief 20 (October 20, 2002). Marina Ottoway and Thomas Carothers, "Think Again: Middle East Democracy", Foreign Policy (Nov./Dec. 2004). Adnan M. Hayajneh, "The U.S. Strategy: Democracy and Internal Stability in the Arab World", Alternatives (Volume 3, No. 2 & 3, Summer/Fall 2004). Democracy in Yemen Gary Gambill, "Jumpstarting Arab Reform: The Bush Administration's Greater Middle East Initiative", Middle East Intelligence Bulletin (Vol. 6, No. 6-7, June/July 2004). Remarks by George W. Bush at the 20th Anniversary of the National Endowment for Democracy, United States Chamber of Commerce, Washington, D.C., "President Bush Discusses Freedom in Iraq and Middle East", (6 November 2003). Robert Blecher, "Free People Will Set the Course of History: Intellectuals, Democracy and American Empire", Middle East Report (March 2003). Robert Fisk, "What Does Democracy Really Mean In The Middle East? Whatever The West Decides", The London Independent (8 August 2005). Fawaz Gergez, "Is Democracy in the Middle East a Pipedream?", Yale Global Online (April 25, 2005). Adam Garfinkle, Joshua Muravchik, Jon Alterman, Michele Dunne, J. Scott Carpenter, "Can the Middle East Sustain