CADCA

My U of F degree is in Political Science, so for me these are the best of times.
To some of those protesting for Freedom in other parts of the world, these are the worst of times.

Moldy regimes have fallen, even as new ones try to bootstrap the dream of individual freedoms, only to run into cold reality.

I hope someone besides me remembers that we are a Republic, the Big D in reality a fool's errand, one that can almost by its nature, not make decisions - even our Republic is disadvantaged when there is 50/50 gridlock, in case you hadn't noticed.

That said, Democracy is something to be diligently supported. In the American experience, individual freedom ought to be everyone's birthright.

But Democracy requires a specific environment. It cannot just be imposed at will, especially where there has been no history of the stable support institutions it needs to exist.

I winced when NATO intervened in Tunisia, because I knew that meant the US would carry the weight, and we did. And then, due to new means of people interacting, the fever spread to Egypt and then Yemen and then Bahrain and then Syria. Now China and Bellarus are tightening yokes of repression out of fear of uncontrolled social change. Many countries have long controlled economic minorities, and often very severely repress women.

As much as it is in the American spirit to foster and support the formation of democracies in place of less responsible forms of government, we must understand that wishing these folks free just doesn't work.

And until the ones stirring the cauldron right now find a way to 'share the wealth', establish stable middle classes to underpin representative government, no amount of chiding from the Bully Pulpit, or wishing from the Salons of the intelligensia, will foster the orderly transfer of power from authoritarian rule, to one where the government's authority to rule comes from the will of all the people. Until then, please let the Foreign Service professionals give their learned advice upon which our leaders can base smart decisions. And don't be condemned to repeat History, as the unaware are.

USAF F-22 Raptor
Air Show at KSC
Credit: LB/BlueSawtooth