from the Los Angeles Times

SINCE 9/11, the United States has pursued what the White House calls a “forward strategy of freedom” predicated on the belief that a dearth of democracy in Muslim countries has led to the spread of a deadly strain of Islamic extremism. Emboldened by a hard-won ideological victory over the regimes in Eastern Europe during the Cold War, the U.S. once again has sought to foment democracy abroad to ensure security at home. (more…)