I found an interesting article of Francis Fukuyama, Dean of the School of Advanced International Studies, John Hopkins Univeristy, on modernization, liberal democracy and the functioning of the state. Fukuyama points out that it "is a universal desire of every nation to live in a modern society and to be free of tyranny [..] but this is different from saying that there is a universal desire to live in a liberal society. The desire to live in a liberal democracy is, indeed, something acquired over time, often as a byproduct of successful modernization. Long before you have a liberal democracy, you have to have a functioning state."
Fukuyama links his point to the Bush administration's agenda and its (obvious) failure to bring freedom and domocracy to the Middle East. Sadly, the road to liberal democracy in the region is likely to be extremely disappointing in present and near future. I think, I can agree on this issue.
