A recent public opinion poll conducted by the Anwar Sadat Chair for Peace and Development and the Program on International Policy Attitudes (PIPA) at the University of Maryland finds that a preponderant majority of Americans think that “it would be positive for the United States if the Middle East were to become more democratic and a solid majority would favor this happening” even if this resulted in the region being more likely to oppose US policies and “U.S. interests.” The “American public,” World Public Opinion.org reports in a recent headline, “sees [the] democratization of [the] Middle East as positive for US” [20]. That’s good to know, but, of course, the American people have little to do with the shaping of those policies and the definition of those interests. Americans looking for democracies to create, support, protect, and repair would do well to focus on “the homeland,” the world’s only superpower, where domestic authoritarianism – potentially a new and dangerous form of totalitarianism (“corporate-managed democracy”)in the view of some dark observers[21] – carries particularly grave consequences to democratic possibilities the world over. The people need change, real change, at home, no less than abroad. My sense is that the American public would see the democratization of the United States as a very positive development indeed….. For entire article, please go here
