NRO: "Cultural changes are afoot" in the Middle East?

Jay Nordlinger reports in the National Review Online some good news from the World Economic Forum on the Middle East that just took place in Jordan:

For years and years, many of us have complained that Arabs and Muslims will not face up to their own problems. They prefer to deflect, blaming others for every sniffle and cough — and those others tend to be Israelis and Americans. But I’m happy to see that there is relatively little — relatively little — deflection at this WEF conference. Instead, participants are honestly grappling with the central problems, and seeking solutions to them.

. . .Take a debate staged by the Forum and televised live by Al Arabiya. The topic: “Is the Arab World Betraying Its Youth?”

The topic alone tells you that cultural changes are afoot.

Al Arabiya’s moderator talks about this aforementioned 200 million, the 60 percent of the Arab population who are under 24. They have little hope and great troubles. Unemployment is very high, and young people are delaying marriage, unable to support spouses and families. They are lining up at embassies, trying to obtain visas — emigration seems their only way out.

The audience is stocked with young people, brought in specially for this occasion. They stand up and air their grievances, and they joyously condemn their governments and elders. I believe this is something relatively new under the Arab sun.

As Nordlinger concludes:

When you begin to confront your own problems, instead of blaming, deflecting, and excusing — the solutions can’t be far off, can they?