TheNextReport

Logic in the Middle East and The Limitations of Democracy by P.J. Schwartz Not long after I watched President Bush on CNN extolling the virtues of democracy evidenced by the Palestinian legislative elections, I felt an odd wave of disgust. Then I thought of Winston Churchill. Among the British Prime Minister's most famous sayings was the remark: "democracy is the worst form of government; except all the others that have been tried." Events in the Middle East this week, however, would seem to suggest that only the first part of Churchill's dictum is true. The victory of Hamas in the elections for the Palestinian parliament has demonstrated once again that the process of democracy in the Middle East may result in a state of affairs entirely worse than what we in the West want or expect. In the wake of the overwhelming electoral victory of what is arguably the world's most prolific terrorist organization -- one that has entirely rejected the peace process that succe

Watch this blog in the coming weeks for a perspective on American politics and culture, the environment, the Middle East, relations with France and other tasty bits of information. PJ