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Saturday, February 11, 2006

The democratization policy wins another supporter 

The past couple of weeks have not been good for the Bush administration's democratization strategy. Surely the cartoon intifada threatens to undermine the credibility of those who believe that the Arab and Muslim world can accept the essential features of democratic government, one of which is tolerance for unpopular opinions. Or, if you believe (as I do) that this conflaguration was calculated to serve the interests of those opposed to democracy, the outrage just proves how desperate the opponents of democracy have become (my post on the realist case for the democratization strategy is here).

In any case, bad week though it has been, the Bush administration's policy picked up another ally in Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, son of the Colonel. The son, who according to the BBC is Muammar Gaddafi's most trusted unofficial advisor, "says he agrees with US President George W. Bush that the Middle East needs democracy."

It is amazing, if you think about it, how very few people in either the Arab world or the West are willing to make that simple statement.

3 Comments:

By Blogger Cardinalpark, at Sat Feb 11, 07:17:00 AM:

Although the cover of the most recent Economist magazine is entitled Democracy - the one thing Bush got Right...an annoying admission, but an acknowledgment nonetheless.  

By Blogger Cassandra, at Sat Feb 11, 08:38:00 AM:

Unwilling to say publicly?

Is this surprising in a repressive environment? And I think the costs of saying you favor bringing democracy to the ME are higher than saying you favor the status quo, whether you are here or there.  

By Blogger Final Historian, at Sat Feb 11, 05:24:00 PM:

The Economist has long been a haven of British Arabists. Its a good mag, except when it comes to the ME.  

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