Democratization vs. Westernization vs. Capitalization Although political democracy and economic capitalism have become integral pat of Western cultures, the formers need not necessarily be misunderstood as limited to the latter. If you remember it well, ISO, I too vehemently opposed the US-led invasion of Iraq in the name of spreading democracy. I still believe that the key purpose of that invasion was not to liberalize the people of Iraq, rather it was desigend to liberalize the oil market to incorporate advantages to American companies. The most disturbing aspect of the whole process, though, is that in the name of "democracy," the Americans have been oblivious to the fact that they have been trying to "Westernize" the Iraqi society. This is a very common mistake that leads to obvious chaos, something that the opponents of democracy have been able to use against such processes. Yes, I agree that every society has their own respective values; and notwithstanding the fact that some of those values may be antiquated and needs to be let go of, most of the other ujnique traits of respective societies needs to be fully respected. Nevertheless, I still belive that the principles of freedom and democracy, if NOT confused with westernization or capitalization, will always have rooms in every society. Humans are innately freedom-yearning; and they are at their best, both in terms of daily functionings AND in terms of ability to achieve more, only when they are set free. That is why the freer societies (again, let's not confuse "Western" with "free") in general have done better than the societies which thrive in some form of authoritarian system(s). Being free does not, and should not, mean being Western, nor does it mean embracing capitalism. There are societies that strongly uphold their traditional values (e.g. Japan) and have strong socialist influence in their economies (e.g. many european countries) that have done extremely well because they have chosen to set their people free. I am aware of the fact that few countries have been exceptions to this, but as I and others have already explained above, those countries had other exceptional advantages that allowed them to maneuver their political and social processes whatever way they chose. Still, regardless of how economically prosperous they may be, I wonder if Chinese or Singaporean people are as equally developed in terms of human growth, i.e., in terms of psychological and emotional aspects of life.