Thank you BENNU
Bullet Magnet is right, however Lebanon should be added as the current standout western style country in the Middle East which might not be saying much given Syria, the overflow into Lebanon and Jordan and Tunisia etc. Not a lot of time for pranks on the beach nowadays.
But of course 'western style' tells you something about why it ended and anyway this western style way of life was only for the secular elites in Cairo and Alexandria and even there many of the high living were wealthy expats. Western lifestyles were imported and very different to the bulk of the population.
Oddly socialist military dictatorships in Syria and Lebanon kept western ways - especially Lebanon, but now under its current corrupt democracy, which gives more power to secular Christians than they would get under a pure democracy. Maybe that protects western ways for some. Also having Christians as a large minority might also have an effect elsewhere, although in the case of Egypt your average Copt can be very traditional.
Syria has always been a dictatorship which may have protected the western lifestyle group but I assume that group is small - but I really don't know..
Egypt, which I know a small amount about in the 40's and 50's, had western style elites under the King. The King was widely seen as decadent and western so there might have been some effect. After the expats were driven out people say that things changed. Lifestyles may have also changed because of socialism because Nassr was not a man 'easily corrupted'. Famously he died with almost no money. On the other hand he wasn't worried much by the opinion of the traditionals because he didn't rule through the ballot box so maybe western ways continued. A move to more traditional lifestyles under Sadat and Mubarak may have something to do with the increase in democracy with traditional views having to be taken account of. The fact that both Presidents were western oriented didn't seem to have much effect on growing conservatism.
Iran is the spectacular stand out. A strong pro Western ruler, secular, looking to build a capitalist economy, an urban elite indistinguishable from the West, was thrown out and replaced by a religious dictatorship and a reversal of values and lifestyle. The short version seems to be that he imposed his western ways and ignored the values of the people. I think that there was also quite a bit of west hating because the King was seen as a western lacky.
Part of the changes in life style may also have to do with ordinary resentment by lower classes towards secular Western style elites, their power, their corruption and their monopoly on abused power. Increasingly the west is seen as the enemy so those who ape their ways run a risk. A part of the change to more traditional lifestyle may also about bigger movements within Islam with some experts plotting a resurgence or a more exluvist, less tolerant and more radical version. This version of Islam shades from dislike to hate of the west and its safe to assume that includes a lot of our lifestyle.
In any event I know of few countries where the gap in values and lifestyle between the top, upper middle and the bottom is so great as in Egypt. There might be countries where there is a big disparity in income, China and India, but not a major difference of fundamental values.
I've promoted before the website
http://www.egy.com for just about anything you would want to know about the elites and super elites up to Nasser. Some great photographs.
Times do change...
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