A professor at McGill University in Canada - Philip Salzman has written an interesting book - Culture and Conflict in the Middle East. I admit, it is now nearly a year old, but it takes me some time to read books. Life gets in the way of things we enjoy.
The book is interesting for its approach to the issues in the Middle East - Salzman argues they are tribal in nature, and when we reflect upon this, it makes some sense. When governments fall or are corrupt, individuals rely upon tribal structure to provide order and stability.
Implications - they marry each other off to cousins and others - why? to benefit from expanded family growth - fertility. More kids. Expand the tribe. Give great thanks for a son, who will produce many children and expand the tribe further. The larger the tribe, the more power the tribe holds, the greater the strength, the greater the insult when an insult occurs - resulting in violent actions against other tribes (whereby the tribe with the most males will be in a better position to win).
It would behove the tribe to impose restrictions upon the females and then to watch over the females to catch a female from an opposing clan or tribe and force her family to commit an honor killing (thereby depriving the tribe of reproductive benefits).
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