This is an article from 2008 -
http://www.iranian.com/main/2008/sanity-vs-insanity
This is part of the article:
.............Hence, in a rapidly changing and globalizing world, intolerant cultures make life difficult for their followers, as well as all others. There are two dominant cultures which exist today in the Middle East, Persian and the Arab culture. My objective here is not to glorify or condemn one over another, but to make sure readers get a better understanding of the roots of the “Ways of Life” in the Middle East today, and for the world (which is hopefully no longer restricted by economical goals only) to know which culture needs to be promoted and which one must be opposed or fixed. The impacts of these two cultures can be noticed in every Middle Eastern country, within all races, ethnicities, and amongst those practicing different religions.
One culture promotes life while the other insists on the after-life. One inscribes tolerance while the other pushes for dominance. One establishes equality of all genders, races, and faiths, while the other promotes superiority. One culture promotes celebrations and joy of life, while the other seeks mourning and suffering, in quest of the promised afterlife. One understands how human life is intertwined with all other life-forms be it animals and plants, while the other ….. well, the other has not evolved that far yet! One culture believes in creating good things, the other believes in taking. One culture was the first to devise wages for labor, while the other has yet to fully abandon slavery. One culture makes sure every child is exposed to love, the other considers love as a deterrent to roughness and toughness. One believes in ruling the hearts, the other trusts only the rule by terror. As a result of these cultural characteristics, followers of one culture are generally peaceful, insightful, and kind, while those of the other culture are generally rough, dumb, intolerant and unkind.
Influences of these two cultures can be sensed in every country in the Middle East and well beyond. It is of outmost importance for the world to recognize the long term ramifications of supporting the wrong culture, as they have been in the past couple of centuries for the sake of economical gains and securing the flow of oil. It certainly appears to many of us Iranians that to maximize and secure profits in the Middle East, certain powers in the west have preferred in the past to deal with and support those who are manipulated easier. The world has paid a grave price for that miscalculation, and will pay even more severely if that trend continues.