Despite America's great love of democracy, rulership of a nation is necessarily rooted in the culture of its people. Bringing democracy to Islamic countries is like taking a whale out of water and expecting it to thrive just because whales are mammals like us and we would like them to live as we do.
In countries that have the same cultural values that Americans hold to be "self evident" -- equality for all, majority rule, women's rights, etc. -- democracy is a valid choice. However, if we think that democracy is necessary for a country's ultimate success, we're dead wrong.
If we examine the culture of the Islamic countries over thousands of years, we would see many differences between their value system and our own. These countries work more on a "pecking order" than on equality. Can such as system be successful? Well, these same countries have been around much longer than the U.S. has; and, like it or not, the pecking order is so much engrained in their culture that democracy would be a misfit.
"Religion" rules everything in Islamic culture -- whether good or bad, Muslims follow their beliefs blindly, without exception, and have done so for thousands of years. We're not about to change that with or without the introduction of democracy. Would these nations be comfortable with democracy? Hardly.
As long as countries are not a threat to others and they are willing and able to live the way they do without imposing on the lives of others around them, they should be free to rule as they see fit. However, that's another problem. Many of these nations impose their beliefs on others, even if they have to kill their opponents to do so. That's the real problem here, not whether they should practice democracy or not.
Unfortunately, if we go into their country and force democracy on these people,aren't WE also imposing our values where they are not wanted? Instead, we need to come to some understanding with these nations that they must follow the rules of basic human rights. As long as they do no harm to others because of their "fanatic" beliefs, they should have a rulership more in tune with their own culture and values, which we as a nation cannot even begin to understand.
