Here’s a little play list I put together inspired by the wave of democratic revolutions sweeping the Arab world. The play list includes songs celebrating people power and a small sampling of songs from the region. Today, on receiving news from Libya, I added a few songs that go some way, insofar as anything can, to expressing the pure horror and sadness I felt on seeing images of death in the streets of Libya. The images have been shocking, the ruthlessness of the regime truly appalling. This music expresses the pure sadness and outrage I feel.

It is amazing and inspiring to watch these demonstrations! It has been horrifying and shocking to watch the response of the Libyan regime!

It is considered naive to suggest that foreign policy should be based on principle. We are told it is necessary to be Machiavellian in safeguarding our national interest, and in the realm of foreign policy, realpolitik often trumps principle. I disagree. Perhaps I am, indeed, naive, but I believe that democracy, with protection for the rights of the minorities, is a principle that trumps almost all, and our policy ought to reflect that.

In the current wave of peaceful democratic revolutions sweeping the Arab world, US support of the citizen demonstrators has been slow and tepid. This in spite of the fact that sticking to our principles and unequivocally supporting the pro-democracy demonstrators is what is in our best economic and strategic interest. To do otherwise is a risky strategy, a strategy that, should it not go the way proponents believe, will have grave consequences.

They think that others will also see them as lesser men and this will lead to cheapest levitra stigmatization. Lacking the necessary smarts to make much sense from this information overload, discount generic cialis I need to rely on technical and sentiment data to come up with “educated market guesses.” My last guess-that the S&P 500 would mimic the downside breakout of a head-and-shoulders formation on the chart of 10-year treasury yield-has turned out to be on the money. There are also order tadalafil generics – analogous preparations for erectile dysfunction and premature ejaculation from the company. According cheapest levitra to a study conducted by the University of Pennsylvania found that opioid dependence changes the way people perceive cuteness of babies. We should support the efforts of the people in the Arab world to throw off the yoke of oppressive regimes because those regimes violate the basic human rights of their people on a regular basis. As a nation we stand, or at least should stand, for democracy and respect of human rights and we ought to be uncompromising in that. It is a tenant of our founding documents and a philosophy that we we have always held true, at least rhetorically.

The more cynical voices of those who believe the best interests of the United States should be the only criteria for the evaluation of foreign policy say that our energy needs and the need to protect our vital ally Israel often demand that we support authoritarian regimes, and that this is the case even now, in the face of the the overwhelming protests.

In fact it is supporting the opposition in these countries and demanding that the entrenched, authoritarian regimes give up power that is in our vital national interest. This democratic wave is unstoppable; Our choice is to get on the wave and ride is, or to be swamped as it passes us by. It is the principled thing to do, and it is the the thing that serves our interest.

As new democratic leadership emerges in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Bahrain, Yemen and elsewhere, it will remember who supported it and who was hesitant. The image of the US in the Arab world is not great, but we have been given a chance to reset. Let’s take it! We can have much more influence as allies on the behavior of emerging governments as allies than we can ever hope to have as outsiders who supported the old guard…