[Dog Gone]

The last thing we would want to see now is a democracy in Saudi Arabia. The people would elect a government that would be hostile to us before it finally imploded due to infighting.

America's foreign policy is geared toward creating or preserving stability. That is more important to us than spreading the cause of freedom or the virtues of democracy.

Accordingly, you will not see America pushing for Saudi democracy anytime soon.

[meenie]

You have to admit that democracy in the United States has put plenty of incompetents in power and that the prince is right on vote buying. This is one of the disadvantages of democracy. When we gave up the concept of a republic and went to one-man one vote in most of our elected positions, we opened the flood-gates for abuse and stupidity.

[ravinson]

America's foreign policy is geared toward creating or preserving stability. That is more important to us than spreading the cause of freedom or the virtues of democracy.

There is nothing stable about countries that are governed by tyranny. Conservatives like you tend to make the mistake of assuming that maintaining the status quo of friendly foreign governments preserves "stability" while liberals tend to assume that rule by popular vote will make foreign countries more like us.

What you both forget is that what gives America its strength and prosperity is our traditional (albeit eroding) respect for responsible liberty. You can have majoritarian democracy without responsible liberty (eg. South Africa) and you can have responsible liberty in a monarchy. What the Middle East has traditionally lacked is an ethos which respects responsible liberty, and that is what we should be supporting there, not "stability" or "democracy".