I posted many times over the past few years about the Arab history of tribal affiliations actually being the main structure of all Arab societies. These tribes have a thousand or more years of history and lore. Now there are posts all over the web about the "tribal problem", and it is a huge problem. Think Mafia gangs in the thirties and you sort of have it. Young Muslim men with no jobs, no money, and nothing to do with their time are the hard core tribal members. We are now having problems dealing with these tribes. Big surprise. This from an earlier post:

Arab society is a tribal society where it's family and tribe über alles. Within these groupings the most important things for any Arab (Middle Eastermer) are honor, shame, and respect. It is in their tribal context that the Arab functions and it is the tribal system that is always first in an Arab's mind. The Muslim religion allows for this, because just as the early Catholic Church accommodated to the Pagan Gods of Rome and Greece, Islam had to accommodate to tribal ethos from Pakistan to the Sudan.

This is a tough deal. Very tough.