Although many people are cynical about it, an enormous amount of political science data shows that it’s in the US and the rest of the world’s best interests to see more democracies around the globe. Democracies tend to be more stable, less warlike, less violent, and more economically stable (yes, believe it or not, even what Greece has been through recently to pales compared to what’s happened under many dictatorships and autocracies). Thus it’s very disheartening from that perspective, as well as a human rights perspective, to see recent goings-on in Romania, which had been on a positive path toward developing a robust democracy. Vladimir Tismaneanu has an in-depth look at the incredible upheavals in Romania over the last year. This bodes poorly not just for Romania, but for the region as a whole.
Dean Esmay is the author of Methuselah’s Daughter. He has contributed to Dean’s World, Huffington Post, A Voice for Men, Pajamas Media. Neither left nor right wing, neither libertarian nor socialist.