I'm referring to people I met who are active participants in US institutions and also hold positions of influence in the M.E.
One that sticks out was a guy who was just educated as all hell and insisted the entire M.E. needed nuke technology. Each country. For nuclear energy, of course.
There is a very influential Arab faction, the rich internationals, who are not under the influence of Islam in the same way as the poor. But, their loyalties still lie very strongly on their own side.