[eschaton]

There are other movements in the region but they tend to be seen as even more antithetical to western governments.

For example, the PKK wants to establish a modern secular Kurdish state. Turkey, Iraq, and Syria are opposed because it would be in “their” territory (never mind the desire of the people in that territory for self-governance).

But why is so much of the “democratic” west unwilling to support the PKK? Because they want a socialist state.

Similarly, there is a large contingent of Palestinians that want to establish a modern secular and non-anti-Israel state, but you never hear about them and they never get a seat at the table—even though lots of people hate the PLO and Hamas—because they’re socialists.

The west really does prefer authoritarian rule with the minimum of western liberal values to democratic socialism with a full embrace of western liberal values. Profit above all else, so any attempt at socialism must be opposed even at the expense of those values.