Is Cameron right to criticise those who don't believe democracy can spread to the middle east?

[sp1814]

Exactly who is 'Call Me Dave' speaking about?

http://www.guardian.c...-uk-muslims-democracy

Surely no-one paints an entire religious sect with the same brush? That would be mad, wouldn't it???

[jake-the-peg]

Someone on a thread here recently pointed out something that the leader of Singapore had said about democracy being impossible in a country with a GDP of less than $2K a head.

That's pretty sweeping but there are few examples of it.

So there is a question of whether the stability of democracies is undermined where there is a great deal of poverty.

I don't think that is the sort of thinking that he's criticising though.

There were plenty of people before WWII that would have told you that Indian or even Irish democracy was impossible

[anotheoldgit]

/// Britain has been guilty of a prejudice bordering on racism for believing that Muslims cannot manage democracy,///

Obviously he doesn't mean himself, and he can't speak for each and every person in Britain, so who is he referring to?

[AB Editor]

[Non-editorial comment]

//But he indicated that the demonstrations presented a challenge for Britain as he dismissed as a "false choice" the old calculation that authoritarian regimes needed to be supported as the price of ensuring stability.//

It has been the driving ideology of the west, capitalism, which had previously placed the concept of "stability" above other ideas. Maybe he is talking about everyone who has accepted that to have the quality of life we currently enjoy has the cost of others living elsewhere - we accept "necessary" evils to maintain our own comfort. In this we are all at least a little implicated.

[End of non editorial comment]

Spare Ed

[anotheoldgit]

The Muslim religion has many factions Shiite and Sunni being two, both violent to each other, so how can they possibly manage democracy?

[sandyRoe]

Christianity here in N Ireland had violent factions yet we're making a fair attempt at democracy now. Why should Islam be any different?

[Zeuhl]

<<both violent to each other, so how can they possibly manage democracy? >>

probably a reasonable judgement on Roman Catholics and Protestants not too many years ago
.

[sp1814]

Good point re: Roman Catholics and Protestants.

AOG - do you think it will take a statesman like Tony Blair (architect if peace in NI) to hellp bring democracy to the Muslim world?

Also, is it true or false that all Muslim territories are governed by dictatorships?

Isn't the United Arab Emirates a democracy? And the Yemen? And Oman? And Turkey?

And Malaysia, Pakistan, Algeria, the Maldives.

What's the true story?

[R1Geezer]

It's always possible but Islam just doesn't seem to fit well with democracy. Ok they may oust a tyrannt now and again but then they install a new one and it's business as usual for the next generation.

[modeller]

What do youunderstand by the term Democratic . Most countries with the name Democratic in their title are/were the least democratic, as we in the UK know it . North Korea, China , East Germany ( GDR ) , Czechoslovakia, Congo , Cuba etc . The same thing applies to political parties. The same thing applies to countries who call themselves The Peoples Republic etc. which implies Democracy.
There are those eg. the Lib/Dems who maintain we are not a democratic country because of our voting system.
In the Middle East and other tribal societies can they ever have a UK type democracy. ?

[R1Geezer]

if the authorities can be changed by the public using some sort of voting system then it's a democracy. Twee cobblers about arithmetic or dissafected sections cannot change that.