Promoting democracy is a waste of time, wealth, and men if the culture can't handle it. That seems to be the case throughout the ME. I, for one, would be content to let the ME implode, and limit the use of our resources to those that we can rely on, e.g., Israel. What we are witnessing is the replacement of semi-tolerable dictatorships with radical Islamism.
Of course that means severing the umbilical cord to ME oil. That can be done if we would just "drill, baby drill" for oil and gas, and clear the way for refineries and nuclear power plants, and forego this stupid "green" energy crap.
Also, we are a democratic republic, not a democracy. Our form of government demands more of the citizen than what the ME, being mostly illiterate, can offer - excepting Israel.