Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton delivered a scalding critique of Arab leaders here on Thursday, saying they badly needed reforms to jump-start their economies and overcome dwindling natural resources, or risk having extremists take root in their societies, The New York Time reports.

Speaking at a conference in this gleaming Persian Gulf state, Mrs. Clinton said: “In too many places, in too many ways, the region’s foundations are sinking into the sand. The new and dynamic Middle East that I have seen needs firmer ground if it is to take root and grow everywhere.”

Mrs. Clinton ticked off a familiar litany of criticism: corruption, repressive political systems and a lack of rights for women and religious minorities. But her remarks were notable for their vehemence, especially before an audience of Arab diplomats, business people and human right groups.

They also came at the end of a four-day swing through the Persian Gulf that took Mrs. Clinton from the autocratic capital of Yemen to the more open sultanate of Oman. Along the way, she stopped in the wealthy emirates of Abu Dhabi and Dubai, before ending up in Qatar, which is still exulting in its selection as host of the World Cup soccer tournament in 2022.

Mrs. Clinton delivered her critique a day after a political crisis in Lebanon seemed to illustrate both the range and the limits of American influence in the region.

While the Obama administration has stitched together a sanctions campaign that it says has delayed Iran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons, it has also been closely involved in other major regional problems, including the stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace talks and the terrorist threat in Yemen.

Read the entire story at nytimes.com