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Is this Bad News? I suspect it’s not. As much as I despise the Uzbek government, I don’t want us to end up in the same situation there as in Iran in 1979. Those in the vanguard of the current “uprising” appear to be completely hostile to democracy. What we should be pushing for is a soft landing for regime change–if it can still be managed–that will allow time for pro-democracy forces to organize, persuade, and gather support.

The same danger could well apply to North Korea. Out of sensitivity to foes who wear the guise of allies and “strategic partners,” we haven’t helped the North Korean people to openly organize a democratic opposition movement. Unless someone begins talking to the North Koreans about how to build a peaceful civil society, one can only shudder to think who will rise to power in the psychologically and politically stunted atmosphere that exists there now.