Exporting 'freedom'

Alternet.org
July 22, 2005News & Politics

Here's a great piece of insight contained in a Observer review of Amartya Sen's latest book:

While talking about Indian democracy, for instance, he cautions: "It is important to avoid the twin pitfalls of 1) taking democracy to be just a gift of the Western world that India simply accepted when it became independent, and 2) assuming that there is something unique in Indian history that makes the country singularly suited to democracy." The truth is far more complex and somewhere between these two views.
Now substitute Iraq in Sen's quote and we have the essence of what is wrong with both those who claim Iraq is incapable of democracy and those who want to "export" it to the Middle East.
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