Joe Nation wrote:We should brief them on democracy otherwise they are likely to be as disappointed with their political leaders as we are
There are occasions, where people in the middle east have got a taste for democracy. In many cases, these democratic bubbles are burst either by the meddling of US, or by scapegoating the US for meddling.
E.g. Iranian presidential elections of 1997:
(Granted Iran is not an arab state, and not a democracy by any definition except the Iranian Government's.)
Nonetheless, overwhelming (80%+) participation in that election gave people a taste of participation in their destiny. Incidentally, It was the overwhelming voter turnout of Iranian women in that election that brought Khatami to power. (The valiant struggle of Iranian women towards equality is a matter for some other thread)
The bitter aftertaste was the abject failure of Mr. Khatami to carry the people's mandate, while exposing the un-democratic core of that system of government that subsequently devoured the democratic aspects.
How was this 'democratic' aspect quashed? By accusing its proponents to be pro-American turncoats. (the US's posture of 'anything to destabilize the regime is welcome' didn't help either)
US foreign policy makers would do well enough NOT to directly involve with democratization (political meddling). Even assuming the sentiment is genuine (an assumption lost on 95% of the population of the ME), past history of transgression and fresh images of violence are hard to erase.
US foreign policy would fare better with support for the groundwork towards democratization (education, health, peace), preferrably through neutral channels and surrogates.
(...signing off from utopistan...)