At this point, arguing about democracy feels like the political equivalent of saying "I went to Paris, and spent the whole time moaning that I couldn't get Del Taco." I guess it doesn't matter if a country is raising its quality of life metrics, or advancing up the economic ladder. Whether the population is content or satisfied with its leadership? Nope. The only relevant metric for human achievement is the invention of a multi-party electoral system.

Except it's even worse than that. It's so easily reduced to parody because it was a strawman to begin with. We don't really give a flying ** about democracy; if that were true, would we have backed the string of strongmen running South Korea in the first 35 years of its independence? Would we ever let a single dime reach Saudi Arabia? I wish our leaders would be honest about it though-- if we just said "we have economic and military hegemony and it's our mission to preserve it", then nobody will waste their efforts trying to find middle ground and win-win solutions.

We should ask why China is winning hearts and minds overseas: maybe they're prioritizing the things people actually need? They don't come in and airdrop a half-baked democracy on a country with little interest in it. They've been loose with the economic aid, and have strayed away from the Western/IMF "let's demand massive austerity and privatization" gameplan. There's nothing stopping the US from doing the same things, but with a bigger bankroll to play with.

Nice rhetorical device.

Now, could we try some strategic empathy, learn about other people around the world, why they despise us, and maybe try to arrest the collapse of the West?

Or are we ok with just snarky mismanaged decline?