standard of living was two 1/2 times greater than china. the thing i worry about, one of the things that really worries me is all of the economic problems that led to these crises are all going to be there the day after. the regimes are going to the regimes will have some expectations to meet these problems and what happens if that doesn t happen? what is the next wave of governments? i want to ask you something, nick. you have written very optimistically about all of this. i just wonder. you say how can we not support democracy when these people are willing to-die-for it. are you wanting to get rid of a bad regime is one thing. being able to set up a liberal democracy with a functioning rule of law and constitutionalism is another. have you seen things there that gives you a lot of hope that these places will not turn into, you know, liberal democracies, dysfunction, anarchy? i hesitate to say. you wrote the book on liberal democracies.
it s one of those moments when those cultural relativism arguments are made, it s a different culture, the people really don t want democracy, they don t want to be free. we shouldn t impose our western values and imperialist way on they people. those arguments have been shown to be hollow. as nick was saying this really is a revolution of the people not just of the streets but, you know, of the new technical elite of the society. they want the same freedoms we do. also a revolution driven by economic failure. if these regimes haven t been able to deliver like chinese economic growth the story would be different. in the egyptian case when hosni mubarak took power the egyptian standard of living was two 1/2 times greater than china. the thing i worry about, one of the things that really worries
elements. some are not so nice. some is a mistrust. whenever you have 300,000 muslims in the streets that has to be a bad thing. some of it is having been burned on iraq. people whether you acknowledge or not people say things because they feel the need to be consistent with the things they said with iraq, they recite old lines. other people hear the old lines and go that didn t come out so well the last time i gave that show maybe i should look for a new script this time. one more thing when you look at iraq,ing right now things do look stable. whether the regime has governed with a light hand compared to others you think with all that was invested in iraq, your look at the results and how disappointing they were, if that s what you get with this huge american infusion, it was not wasted it was a real effort and this is the result. now what happens in egypt when you try to go through that process with a poor country, one in seven illiterate.
option b, live and die in libya. option c, live and die in libya. was that posturing for seven years? possibly. my own belief is that he spent seven years trying to be a reformer and in the end was swallowed up in clan loyalty. i think this is a clan family and i tribal land that will fight to the end for what they believe. foolish and delusional and oppressive. repressive. you know there are people who look at you and people like you who say you became tools of one of the most repressive regimes of the world. yes. you became fellow travelers of this regime. let me say two things about that. one is that there are americans
it s one of those moments when those cultural relativism arguments are made, it s a different culture, the people really don t want democracy, they we don t to preand we shouldn t impose western values and imperialist ways on people. those arguments have been shown to be hollow. as nick was saying this really is a revolution of the people not just of the streets but, you know, of the new technical elite of the society. they want the same freedoms we do. it is terrific. also a revolution driven by economic failure. if these regimes haven t been able to deliver like chinese economic growth the story would be different. i think one of the things that sums it up in the egyptian case when hosni mubarak took power the egyptian