Quote:
Originally posted by The Larry Davis Experience
What does this mean? That democracy is an empty word?
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It means that most folks don't view democracy as the proper or most important "end" in itself, because political freedom for people with worldviews than our own may well produce policies and actions that we don't like.
When we're dealing with nuclear proliferation, stability and cooperation are the key. As you know, it is a common assumption that democratic governments built on the rule of law with good social institutions are more stable and less likely to engage in wars, etc. That may be true -- but most emerging democracies are weak on the latter two. Remember -- the U.S. fought about 10 wars of various sizes in its first 80 years (including the Civil War) -- most of which we started.
Its hard to say what will emerge from a democratic Islamic country -- we've never seen one. (Malaysia/Indonesia are barely democracies and not strictly Islamic).
S_A_M
