China has seen a great deal of economic progress. It's certainly rather of a miracle. The growing role of the market in the economy will force China to open up its political system over time and to move toward a more democratic society. So taken as a whole, the one real failure in this whole business has been Russia.
China is not going to become a liberal democracy; if it did, it would collapse. I do not believe you can impose on other countries standards which are alien and totally disconnected with their past.
The desire for a democratic political system does not by itself create the capacity for establishing one.
What Tunisia urgently needs, is freedom and the building of a real democracy.
Modernity and moderation is what we need in Egypt.
Look at South Africa, the former Soviet Union, and the Middle East. They still have many problems, setbacks as well as breakthroughs, but basically changes have happened that were considered unthinkable a decade ago.
Not all countries are ready for it [democracy].
The Czech Republic is a dynamic United Nations Member State, active on the Human Rights Council, contributing to the peaceful settlement of disputes, and helping other countries to achieve a democratic transition.
Let's look at two things real quickly: the civil rights movement in Mississippi in the Sixties and the Arab Spring starting in Tunisia and Cairo. What they had in common was people who were told, and who believed inside themselves, that they were a certain way, and the society at large believed it.
The democratic choice Russian people made in the early 90's is final.
There's always Tunisia. Amid the smoking ruins of the Middle East, there is that one encouraging success story.
President Trump's leadership has been very important to this effort of restoring democracy to Venezuela.
I would like to extend to you our deep appreciation and thanks for the position the United States has taken in support of the democratization process that has taken place in Tunisia, in Egypt, and what is attempting to take place in Libya.
We got rid of a terrible dictator. We gave the Iraqi people an opportunity for a new life under a representative form of government.
What makes America's election system unique is the fact that even when elections are close, we find a resolution, which leads to the peaceful transition of power that remains one of the most important tenets of our democracy.
We keep looking at democratization as an event—like the fall of the Berlin Wall—but it’s actually a process.
I am the first authoritarian government elected to become a dictator and then resigning as a dictator. So this is the first dictator in the world who has resigned while still quite healthy.
I don't accept armed struggle. Maybe it was the way in the '50s and '60s, but we want a democratic revolution.
In many emerging democracies, democracy and stability are mutually incompatible.
When Barcelona came out of the Franco dictatorship in 1975, the first thing city officials did was to make 200 public squares where people could meet and talk to each other as a sign that democracy had returned.
South Africa has faced many problems in the past. You would understand those problems if you understood the history of the struggle to get rid of Apartheid and the struggle to establish democracy.
But transitions from the politics of violence to democratic compromise are always messy.
One cannot wishfully expect automatic evolution to democracy.
It's great that we're bringing democracy to Iraq. I can't wait to see how we do it! What are we gonna do, give them our civics textbooks?
Will Iraq be a democracy? The question is, 'Will America be a democracy?'
