Free Republic

Freedom: Egypt's revolution has rattled dictators everywhere. Some are responding by moving toward reform, others by cracking down. Yes, there's a difference between authoritarian and totalitarian regimes. Judging by the chain reaction of responses from as far away as Belarus, Venezuela and Thailand, it's as if an invisible activating agent detectable only by dictators sounded an alarm. Seems no one wants to be "the next Egypt." But they haven't all acted alike, which calls to mind the distinction made by former U.N. Ambassador Jeane Kirkpatrick in a 1978 essay titled "Dictatorship and Double Standards." In the context of the Cold...