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Article: Credit Bush's rhetoric, not his actions.(Middle East Democracy: Who gets the credit? What are the lessons?)(George W. Bush)
- Article from:
- The Washington Monthly
- Article date:
- May 1, 2005
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2005 Washington Monthly Company. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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In speaking about the Middle East, President Bush recently said "a critical mass of events is taking that region in a hopeful new direction." For the Middle East, historically bereft of democracy and clotted with autocrats and despots, the promise of a better life is raising expectations across the region.
Some Democrats, after nearly a century of efforts to inject the ennobling quality of universal freedom and human rights into the heart of our foreign policy agenda, seem uneasy about this president's recent focus on the idea. President Bush spoke with great eloquence in his second inaugural address about expanding freedom, and I was a little frustrated by the ...