DiscussWorldIssues - Socio-Economic Religion and Political Uncensored Debate - View Single Post - Bahrain, Yemen, Libya Face Protests as Region's Unrest Spreads

**yurawerj** · 02-16-2011, 01:37 PM

Yes, I'm trying to keep track of all the protest and seemingly steps to regime changes in that region. Interesting times, For every country there that becomes even slightly more democratic, means good things for the US in the long run.

Our interests and the interests of citizens living in the Middle East are not always aligned. Many of the oppressive regimes that currently rule the Middle East serve our interests possibly better than democracies would, but democracy definitely serves the interests of these people better than authoritarian governments do.

As to the domino effect... When one country overthrows its own government from the inside, that can lead to other nations doing the same. When a government is overthrown from the outside, however, the effect is less positive.

For example, the government of Iran became more hardliner after the second Iraq war. There have been protests against this increased oppression from the Ayatollah, but the increase in oppression may not have occurred in an environment where America isn't literally sitting next door. There's also reason to believe that Iran would be less interested in developing a nuclear program with a less threatening environment.

02-16-2011, 01:37 PM	#6
yurawerj Join Date Oct 2005 Posts 466 Senior Member	Yes, I'm trying to keep track of all the protest and seemingly steps to regime changes in that region. Interesting times, For every country there that becomes even slightly more democratic, means good things for the US in the long run. Our interests and the interests of citizens living in the Middle East are not always aligned. Many of the oppressive regimes that currently rule the Middle East serve our interests possibly better than democracies would, but democracy definitely serves the interests of these people better than authoritarian governments do. As to the domino effect... When one country overthrows its own government from the inside, that can lead to other nations doing the same. When a government is overthrown from the outside, however, the effect is less positive. For example, the government of Iran became more hardliner after the second Iraq war. There have been protests against this increased oppression from the Ayatollah, but the increase in oppression may not have occurred in an environment where America isn't literally sitting next door. There's also reason to believe that Iran would be less interested in developing a nuclear program with a less threatening environment.
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