Pres. George W. Bush, right on target in his talk to Russia, said in the context of the former USSR's controlled states in the Baltics: "All free and successful countries have some common characteristics—freedom of worship, freedom of the press, economic liberty, the rule of law, and the limitation of power through checks and balances." These traits are the essence of democracy. Democracies, as a pervasive rule, do not start wars and, as a natural consequence, democracies never have war with each other. This is the concept behind the attempts to spread democracy. We know this intuitively. Rudolf Rummel of the University of Hawaii established it empirically 30 years ago in his work on the "Dimensionality of Nations" project, a work that Pres. Bush probably has not seen yet. If we want peace, spread democracy. Democracy is both a by-product of economic success and a prerequisite of it—they go hand in hand. Democracy expanded greatly during Bill Clinton's presidency, notably in Latin America, mainly because economies grew rapidly and demanded an educated populace. Educated citizens travel, communicate more, demand more—including partic- ipation in politics and the agendas set by governments.
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