[secfirstmd]

I'm inclined to agree. There is a thesis, I think it's Samuel Huntington, that democracy moves in waves, two steps forward and one backwards. Right now we are in a backward phase from the perception of the West.

Having said that I am fortunate enough to spend a lot of working with democracy activists in the rest of the world and my sense is that there is an ever increasing desire for that, just look at the small pockets of increasing hope in Asia and Africa.