During a talk at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London in 2010, I mentioned that as part of the research for my book, What's Really Wrong with the Middle East, I presented interviewees with a list of critical statements and asked them to choose those they wished to discuss.

In response to several enquiries, here is the list. 
  

INTERVIEW TOPICS

Listed below are 10 statements about the Middle East today. I won’t be asking whether you agree or disagree with them, but I would like you to choose two or three of these statements to discuss in detail during the interview, preferably with reference to your own knowledge or personal experiences.

1. Social discrimination is the greatest of all ailments facing Arab societies today. It creates government in its own image but it also poisons the mentality for reform and definitely for democracy … While governments have been introducing little windows of opportunity to reform, there has been great popular resistance against equality based on gender and race from the people. 
   (Hussein Shobokshi, speaking in Doha Debate, 13 October, 2004.)

2. Islam is not the solution – or the problem. 
   (Title of article by Daniel Brumberg, Washington Quarterly, Winter 2005-2006.)

3. Oil has been more of a curse than a blessing for the Middle East. 
   (Motion of Doha Debate, 15 November, 2005.)

4. The overwhelming political, economic, educational, and social discriminations produced through wasta and koosa are huge stumbling blocks for many Arabs, and for the betterment of the Arab world. Wasta is a waste for all but those who exploit it. 
   (Paul Sullivan, Al-Ahram Weekly, 10 July, 2003.)

5. The family is a major obstacle to reform in the Arab world. 
   (Motion of Doha Debate, 30 May, 2006.)

6. Parties … created from above [by ruling elites] … are not meant to become autonomous political forces in their own right, but are utilised by the ruling elites as instruments of co-option, coercion and political hegemony. 
   (Madalena Resende and Hendrik Kraetzschmar: Parties of Power as Roadblocks to Democracy, August 2005.)

7. Egypt has a million Mubaraks.
   (Khaled Diab, Egyptian journalist, in remark to the author.)

8. The time has come for [Arab] countries to focus their energies on the quality of education and making sure that students are equipped with what the labour market needs now – the ability to solve problems, critical thinking, innovation, and teacher retraining. 
   (Marwan Muasher, World Bank. Quoted by BBC, 5 February, 2008.)

9. Creativity exists in the Arab world but it is still dormant, awaiting favourable conditions to manifest itself.
   (Prince Khalid al Faisal, Arab Thought Foundation. Bahrain News Agency, 1 December, 2007.)

10. The Arab media cannot create democracy by itself, but it's actually doing something more important … it's creating pluralism, it's creating the possibility of meaningful public dissent in which it's OK to disagree – you're not a traitor to the Arab identity, you're not a traitor to the Arab cause if you disagree … 
    (Marc Lynch speaking in Doha Debate, 31 january, 2006.)

Note: The sources have been inserted here. They were not included in the original list.