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Was Promoting Democracy a Mistake?
- Abstract
As sectarian violence in the Middle East increases, as Iraq falls further into the orbit of Iran, as Afghanistan seems poised to hand over its corrupt democracy to terrorists and Taliban murderers, and as American interests and lives are sacrificed to the depredations of the so-called Arab Spring, it might be worthwhile to take stock of what these unfolding debacles mean for neoconservatives and our attachment to democracy’s expansion.
We should begin with Iraq, where our most recent foray into democratic nation-building began.
About the Author
John Agresto served as senior adviser to the Iraqi Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research in the year following the liberation of Iraq. He has subsequently been a founding member of the board of trustees, provost, acting chancellor, and dean of the faculty at the American University of Iraq, in Kurdish Iraq. His book Mugged by Reality: The Liberation of Iraq and the Failure of Good Intentions (Encounter) contains the beginnings of this analysis.
Abe Greenwald is senior editor at Commentary.
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