democracy! or democracy?

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In the midst of the impending civil war in Libya and protests that are spreading like wildfire( excuse the cliche), David Cameron, British PM, has this week completed a tour of the Middle East alongside defense industry executives. When asked how he could be committed to promoting democratic values in the region while at the same time selling weapons to the very regimes that continue to deny their people basic rights, Cameron told one reporter: ” I simply don’t understand how you can’t understand that democracies have a right to defend themselves”.

On a side note, this article notes that the British defense industry also happens to employee 300,000 + people and generates 35 billion a year in revenue for the UK, although this is, of course, secondary in importance to democraticization.

Perhaps more realistically, as the author makes a case for, recent British trips to the Middle East, have more to do with cementing Britain’s role in a world in which the role of America is becoming more and more diminished.