Tunisia (and Beyond) Opinion: Can West Stop Worrying and Accept the Islamist Movements? (Karon)

http://bit.ly/tKIEyN

Time Magazine's Tony Karon asks whether, as Tunisia and Libya enter this next phase of this pro-democracy movement, the West will be able to accept that Islam is not fundamentally at odds with democracy.

---

Tunisia's election and Libya's celebration of the overthrow of Col. Muammar Gaddafi won't have made for a happy weekend among those fevered heads in Washington who believe the West is locked in an existential struggle with political Islam: If anything, the Islamist tones of the Libyan celebrations, coupled with the Islamist victory in the Tunisian polls will have evoked the collapsing dominoes of Vietnam-era anti-communist metaphor.

Click to read more ...

Iran Breaking: Ahmadinejad "We're Ready to Give Advice on Democracy"

Sometimes a political move is so audacious that it leaves me lost for analysis. So over to you, readers. From Fars News, via Azerbaijan's Trend:

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Monday that Iran was ready to provide Europe with "its experiences and criteria" on implementing democracy, dpa reported with reference to Fars news agency.

Ahmadinejad, referring to protest demonstrations in Europe in general and the unrest in France in particular, said it was time that the political leaders listened to their people.

"It would be to the advantage of the Western leaders to implement justice rather than using violence against their people and suppressing their demands," Fars quoted Ahmadinejad as saying.

"Iran was ready to provide these countries with its experience and criteria so they can again reconcile with their people and get out of the current political deadlock," he said.

Ahmadinejad blamed the political system in Europe and said that people were forced to vote for two or three parties created by the leaders, rather than for political figures they really wanted....