Will Democracy Work in the Middle East? - Larry Diamond June 26, 2008

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Complete video at: http://fora.tv/2008/05/07/Larry_Diamond_on_The_Spirit_of_Democracy

Stanford political science professor Larry Diamond discusses the Bush Administration's approach to democracy promotion in the Middle East, and examines barriers to further democratic reforms in the region.

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Larry Diamond discusses the recession of democracy and its role in developing countries. Diamond contends that although more than half of all countries are now democracies, recent efforts to promote democracy around the world have faltered. These stumbles have constituted, Diamond maintains, a very serious threat to freedom.

In a bold vision for the future, Diamond explains that the desire for democracy runs deep, even in very poor countries, and proposes that entrenched regimes like Iran and China could become democracies within a generation - The Commonwealth Club of California

Larry Diamond is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution and a professor by courtesy of political science and sociology at Stanford University. He is also co-editor of the Journal of Democracy and co-director of the International Forum for Democratic Studies of the National Endowment for Democracy.

He has written and edited numerous articles and books on democracy in developing countries and the problems of development and corruption, particularly in Africa and Asia. Dr. Diamond has also served as a consultant to the U.S. Agency for International Development and co-authored its recent report, Foreign Aid in the National Interest.