US democracy ideals lose steam to Bush 'realism': experts

US democracy ideals lose steam to Bush 'realism': experts by Sylvie Lanteaume
17 minutes ago



WASHINGTON (AFP) - Fallout from the Iraq war has prompted a new "realism" in US foreign policy, which is edging out early Bush administration ideals of promoting democracy around the world, analysts say.

US President George W. Bush pushed hard for reform in the Middle East during his first term in office, and still says that ideological change is an integral part of what he calls the "war on terror."

And Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said she was "really concerned" last week on the eve of an Egyptian constitutional referendum that opponents said was certain to curb freedoms.

Experts say the crippling war in Iraq has forced Washington to pursue "realist" policies over Bush's earlier "idealist" ways.

"The failure of US policy in Iraq has provided autocratic regimes in the Middle East a reprieve from the pressure to democratize, as long as they position themselves clearly on the side of Washington in its looming confrontation with Iran, Syria, and Shiite Islamists," said analyst Marina Ottoway of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

more:http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070328/pl_afp/uspoliticsdiplomacy_070328063335

is also an "autocratic regime".

Like maybe 200 years ago.Once you have put an thought into the thoughts of people you can not take it out. It may sit for a while before they do any thing but our ex-drunk is not going to go down in history as the worlds George Washington. G.Washington was not even the person to start this but maybe Locke or some such person. The Middle East people want to live their own life just like us but in their own way and not under oil companies and Bush.

oh please. This (mal)admin has never shown anything other than contempt for democracy at home and abroad. I think we can drop the 'spreading democracy' BS.

Think of it as part of the new 'realism'. :eyes: