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Iraq. Larry Diamond on the Rise of Civil Society in Iraq. Out of Chaos, the flowering of Liberal Democracy -- it ain't always pretty, but it is beautiful. Something Diamond doesn't mention -- the marketplace is booming, and cell phone use has exploded. Good news for Liberal Democracy.

UPDATE: Tom Palmer -- a one man think tank -- bring the world of liberal ideas to Iraq. Interesting stuff. Quotable:

My remarks will focus on two themes. First, the importance of education in changing expectations .. Second, the necessity of fashioning an Iraqi historical narrative of the struggle of liberty and law against unconstrained power. Since the meeting will take place in the Gilgamesh Room of the conference center, I’ll mention the Epic of Gilgamesh (and the role of Enkidu in limiting the arbitrary power of the king), the first written expression of the idea of liberty (ama-gi in Sumerian; my tattoo was taken from a clay tablet found in the city of Lagash [contemporary Telloh] around 2300 BCE), the code of Hamurrabi, the role of the Baghdad Caliphate (destroyed in the Mongol invasion of 1258), and so forth. It’s important that liberty be seen to have native roots and the story of liberty against power to be an Iraqi story. Otherwise, it’s unlikely that liberty and the rule of law will grow and flourish here.

(via The Agitator).