Once the suppressive force of a regime is removed, countries like Egypt, Iraq and Afghanistan have no mechanisms to stop extremists filling the vacuum. There are worse things than dictators.
The CIA’s funding of ISIS as the ‘official” opposition to the Syrian regime has created one such monster. The principle of “my enemy’s enemy is my friend” is not something that serious nations ought to espouse. US foreign policy seems to be as sophisticated as its citizens’ often sketchy knowledge of world geography.
Bahrain is worth watching, as an arab country that might manage to liberalise itself from the top downwards. But the ruling Sunnis will have to remain in control there, as given any opportunity, the Shia majority would certainly take them down as happened so disastrously in Iraq.
But many countries are simply not yet ready for democracy. How long did it take us?
I wish the Americans could understand this. I expect they do, but they’re seem compelled to unrealistic democracy evangelism, whilst the USA lacks greatly in terms of justice, equality and democracy.
So it’s up to Europe to provide an example to the people of these countries. But with its comic opera reaction to Crimea et al, apparent inability to stand up to the USA, its insane desire to expand with apparent disregard of consequence, and its disingenuous verging on dishonest bureaucracy that the UK so distains, what sort of an example…?