Perhaps democracy can be DIY. But it’s a bit hard to DIY when all the instruments of a repressive state are channelled towards stopping you. Democracy is powerful and can flower on its own - but only when those that work so hard to stop it are in turn stopped.
When Ronald Reagan called the Soviet Union an “Evil Empire,” the liberal elite in the West mocked him. But the word was passed from cell to cell in Eastern Europe that at last a man was in power who understood their plight, who knew how terrible it is to be denied a voice, and was willing to act upon it. Such a man is in power once again today.
As Reagan was good news for the Eastern Europeans, so Bush is good news for the repressed peoples of the Arab world.
Advertisement
You may sit in the comparative luxury of your home and smugly condemn America’s attempts to spread a way of life you take for granted. You live in a society fortunate enough not to need its help. Spare a thought for those that do.
Discuss in our Forums
See what other readers are saying about this article!
Click here to read & post comments.
9 posts so far.
About the Author
Alexander Deane is a Barrister. He read English Literature at Trinity College, Cambridge and took a Masters degree in International Relations as a Rotary Scholar at Griffith University. He is a World Universities Debating Champion and is the author of The Great Abdication: Why Britain’s Decline is the Fault of the Middle Class, published by Imprint Academic. A former chief of staff to David Cameron MP in the UK, he also works for the Liberal Party in Australia.