Excerpt

The new year began by posing the question of democracy in stark ways. Whether in Washington or around the world, the configuration of state power and popular will confronts diverse and growing pressures. The democracy euphoria at the end of the cold war and its continuation in the democratization agenda of the Bush administration suddenly face the skepticism of history. Did we really mean what we said? Of course, cynics and realists have long raised doubts, urging that we pay greater attention to national interest than to democratic ideals. Yet at stake now is less that realpolitik trade-off of values…