Most of Africa has "democratic institutions," even by limited standards of capitalism? A number of African nations, plunged in civil wars, etc., are surely in worse shape, politically and economically, than China and Iraq. For instance, we witnessed US and French troops evacuate Americans and other foreigners from Côte d'Ivoire just yesterday. Outside the circle of rich nations in North America, Western Europe, and East Asia, economic conditions are very fragile, which in turn makes political conditions undemocratic (by any standard) or subject to upheavals or both. Even the nations that do have democratic institutions, like India and Venezuela, cannot escape domestic unrest, regional instability, and/or foreign intervention. Just wait until deflation hits the USA hard and brings the world economy down further, and see what "democratic institutions" will survive. It's in this precarious context that the Bush Doctrine gets developed. -- Yoshie
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