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There is a “fundamental conflict” in Western countries between the notions of democracy and capitalism, a political analyst tells Press TV.

“You are dealing with a fundamental conflict here in Western countries like the United States, and the conflict is between democracy and capitalism. They’re opposites,” E. Michael Jones, an editor of the Culture Wars online magazine said in an interview with Press TV from Indiana on Tuesday.

“Capitalism favors the few, it favors the creditor; democracy favors the majority. They are at odds and when they are at odds like this, it’s capitalism that wins over democracy,” he added.

“The whole idea of democracy and the United States supporting democracy or the will of the people independent of its foreign policy goals is an illusion,” Jones said.

He added that the conflict between capitalism and democracy also plays out in US foreign policy as in the case of US relations with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates considering these countries’ oppressive treatment of their citizens.

Jones stated, “The issue here is not democracy, the issue is taking control of the Middle East and its oil reserves and that means propping up the Saudi family and all of their puppet regimes along the Persian Gulf States.”

Rights group Amnesty International has lashed out at the United Arab Emirates for cracking down on dissent in the country and imprisoning scores of activists demanding political reforms.

Saudi Arabia has also been censured for its intolerance toward political dissent.