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Post by aztec70 on May 31, 2011 14:07:54 GMT -8
Who thinks that after all is said and done there will be flourishing democracys in the Middle East? I am not sanguine myself. Who knows, though. Forty years ago I was not expecting democracys in Latin America. Maybe forty years from now there will be democracy in the Middle East. Is the time of dictatorship really passing?
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Post by aztecwin on May 31, 2011 16:19:12 GMT -8
Hard to say, but I wonder at what sort of Democracy would emerge with Muslims when you consider their basic belief system. Maybe the west would be better off with brutal rulers like The Saudis and the former Shah in place in the Middle East. Maybe even those folks themselves would be better off, all things considered, with authoritarian rule. Are they capable of ruling themselves?
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Post by davdesid on May 31, 2011 16:25:55 GMT -8
How thinks that after all is said and done there will be flourishing democracys in the Middle East? I am not sanguine myself. Who knows, though. Forty years ago I was not expecting democracys in Latin America. Maybe forty years from now there will be democracy in the Middle East. Is the time of dictatorship really passing? I am not sanguine, either.... edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/meast/05/30/egypt.virginity.tests/ |
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Post by 78aztec82 on May 31, 2011 18:26:43 GMT -8
Who thinks that after all is said and done there will be flourishing democracys in the Middle East? I am not sanguine myself. Who knows, though. Forty years ago I was not expecting democracys in Latin America. Maybe forty years from now there will be democracy in the Middle East. Is the time of dictatorship really passing? I haven't seen democracy develop yet, just the emergence of new dictator groups vying for power, this time including fundamental Islamists, or those that use Islam to reenslave their people. We have a long way to go in this process and the alternative may be worse than what some people think is bad now... |
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Post by Bob Forsythe on Jun 1, 2011 17:42:29 GMT -8
From an area studies standpoint, revolutions in developing nations are always problematic because it's always difficult to determine which faction will prevail - quite often it's a leader of a faction that nobody saw coming (see Suharto around '67 - the PKI didn't bother to attempt to assassinate him because he had always existed under the radar).
Who comes to power in a time of upheaval is always a question mark. But it does seem to me that it's long past time that we support any dictator who claims to be our "friend". Christ, we've lost a lot of kids in Afghanistan supporting Karzai for no particular reason.
Bin Laden is dead, his organization is dead or on the run. Time to bring our kids home. As we said in the '60s. it's time to declare victory and get the fark out. And while we're at it, cut the farking defense budget in half.
=Bob
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