Qatar's first lady says Islam has wrongly been blamed for the rise of extremist violence, citing failed US polices the real culprit.

Sheikha Mozah Bint Nasser al Missned on her 15-day US tour told the Los Angeles World Affairs Council, "Societies worldwide were failing to provide jobs, hope and a feeling of greater good for their citizens."

"As a result, youth are seduced by a global culture of violence that is fueled by cynicism," she said.

"Certainly, failed US policies in the Middle East have provided a fertile ground for radical groups,'' she said.

The first lady rejected the idea that Islam is the reason for limited education of women in many Middle Eastern countries.

"We live in times when we have to swallow the bitter pill of hypocrisy called Western democracy or else be injected with the poison of extremism," she said.

In further remarks, the Qatari first lady criticised the increasing globalisation of world economy, saying that hyper competition had created a world of "consumerism and survival of the richest, of the man with the biggest gun has the loudest voice."