Larry Diamond Quotes

Al Jazeera is known in the Arab world as the voice of freedom of expression.

There's always Tunisia. Amid the smoking ruins of the Middle East, there is that one encouraging success story.

In the end, it's a good investment for America to be involved in helping people get democratic governance - not to take over their country - but to help people be free. And that is an investment that will pay off in the future.

A free and democratic Arab world aligns with America's security interests.

I care about Bahrain.

For years, the West supported Mubarak and gave aid for what it hoped was stability - but was actually stagnation - in the Middle East.

Is it possible that the people of the U.S. enjoying the blessings of freedom under the only republican government on earth have not virtue enough to support it?

Well, in terms of the American taxpayers’ contribution, I do, this is it for the U.S...But the American part of this will be the $1.7 billion.

A stable democratic system cannot be established without the effective participation of the mainstream, moderate, Islamic movement.

If France’s first democratic experiment failed, it nevertheless made a profound contribution to the eventual formation of a stable liberal democracy.

Establishing a stable democracy is a two stage process. First you get rid of the old regime, then you build a durable democratic replacement. Because the first stage is dramatic, many people think the game is over when the dictator is gone. But the second stage is more difficult. There are many examples of broad coalitions coming together to oust dictators but relatively few of them stayed together and agreed on what a new regime should look like.

Refugees left Gambia as they could not live in a country bereft of investment or security. We will create jpbs with responsible governance. It's now one Gambia, one nation, and one people ... and with that I think things will change.

We are not a failed Arab republic, so we should not fear Arab Spring. We should embrace Arab Spring. That's what I hope Saudi Arabia will do.

The regime of Bashar al-Assad will inevitably go down. And its collapse will be loud not only in Syria but across the Arab world.

The Arab world is erupting, which is extraordinary, and to see it happen is like watching rings spreading on a pool - it goes out; it varies so much. The spontaneity is wonderful, but very often, if it's not well organized, it breaks up, and it peters out.

The Arab world was ripe with hope during the spring of 2011. Journalists, academics, and the general population were brimming with expectations of a bright and free Arab society within their respective countries.

It is hard to know exactly when the Arab Spring, a phrase used to describe the beginning of the Arab peoples' demand for democracy and human-rights reform, started.

We are on the side of the Venezuelan people.

I think Tunisia has a specific place in the Arab world and in Africa because it is a tiny Muslim country, but it's very open minded. It's the first country to start the Arab Spring, for example.

It is no coincidence that in the wake of the Arab Spring, investment in youth-related initiatives, especially related to employment, has increased sharply.

Instead of trying to bring freedom to the Arab world, couldn't we just concentrate on trying to fend off the European Union and defending our own porous borders?

We have to be realistic about what we can achieve in Afghanistan. The notion that the United States can build a Western-style democracy there is a myth

It's strange for me to say it, but this process of change has started because of the American invasion of Iraq. I was cynical about Iraq. But when I saw the Iraqi people voting three weeks ago, 8 million of them, it was the start of a new Arab world. The Syrian people, the Egyptian people, all say that something is changing. The Berlin Wall has fallen. We can see it.

Anti-democracy...is a virus that exists, and pro-democracy is the antibody to that virus, and I think we have to become vigilant, and we have to stay on top of the issues of democracy and freedom.

I think violence is counter-productive and it is bad in democratic societies.