Stereotypes, Misconceptions and Rants - the Modern Middle East: Thanks @Jason ! - Leslie A. Jump, Washington, DC

Stereotypes, Misconceptions and Rants - the Modern Middle East: Thanks @Jason !

@Jason and @therealdrmark provided a lively debate this morning about the modern Middle East.

@Jason, first, thank you for taking the time to read my blog and comment on it. To your point, I wouldn't begin to suggest that there aren't problems with Islamic Fundamentalists in Saudi Arabia and elsewhere in the region. I don't have any time for that, just as I have no tolerance for right-wing Zionists or wing-nut Christian Fundamentalists in this country. But viewing the Middle East through that lens alone means you miss an awful lot of what's going on. And isolationism is not a solution.

@Jason, you above anyone should understand the power of entrepreneurs to transform lives. President Obama sees it as well. OPIC's Global Technology and Innovation Fund is an effort to help cultivate a generation of young Arab entrepreneurs who will reach beyond the fundamentalism and violence and help build a more diverse, productive Middle East. Organizations like @SkollFoundation and @Endeavor_global along with various private sector groups are working with local incubators, angel investors and funds to help catalyze entrepreneurial activity across the region. And the governments of the Arab States have made substantial commitments to the development of the IT sectors in their economies. Some of these countries are stretching (both economically and socially) to make this change, but they know it's in their best interest - and ours.

The average person in Egypt lives on $3 USD per day. Out of the 80M Egyptians, some 250,000 graduate from college each year, usually at great cost and with tremendous personal sacrifice. With double-digit unemployment, these newly minted doctors and engineers often end up driving cabs, instead of working in their chosen professions. Without good salaries they can't afford to get apartments. Without a home, they cannot get married. And so they become vulnerable to the recruiting efforts of various unsavory groups in the region.

Investing in young Arab entrepreneurs isn't just good business, it serves higher-order goals of offering greater hope and possibilities to the many, many talented young Arabs who often see no other path than through the Mosque to the Muslim Brotherhood or Al Qaeda.

@AmbassadorNed has had a career of nearly 4 decades in the Middle East, in Israel and across the the Arab States. He's seen tremendous evolution as well as social and economic reform in that time. For the past several years I've been working with and mentoring young Arab entrepreneurs who are every bit as talented as their American counterparts. Let us try to change your mind about what's going on in the Middle East and the positive impact people like us can have on the region. In the end, we all want the same things: peace, happy families, and the chance to be part of the next really big idea.