This is what Europhiles mean when they speak of the "soft power" of the union, the capacity to draw countries towards democracy through the magnetic pull of EU-style prosperity and stability. How much better, and more effective, than the "hard power" of George W. Bush: democracy delivered by bombs from the sky and boots on the ground.
Thursday, October 06, 2005
This is how you spread democracy
From an article in today's The Hindu (via The Guardian):