Cultural Imperialism at its Best
Thomas Barnett has some links and analysis about the effect of Iraq on the middle east:
Yes, there will dangers along the way. But tell me that any of this happens when it does without the invasion of Iraq. Bush is engineering his own serious change in the Middle East, with the simplest and most direct form of political connectivity there is: the ballot box.
The idea of liberty is powerful. Expose people to it, and they want it. They’re willing to accept the risk of chaos along the way. Lincoln said that we were “conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.” He also called that ideal “the last, best hope of mankind,” and he was right. The hope of liberty is driving change in the middle east. Some of that is violent resistance from people who don’t believe that we are all equal. Some of it is from people who hate liberty since it enables sinners to sin. But hope for liberty is more powerful than that. When the Lebanese are willing to risk more chaos to drive out the Syrians, you know you’re onto something big.