<The deputy minister said Afghanistan once had a constitution that neither the government nor the people paid the slightest attention to, but they thought they might as well try again. A questioner asked, "What makes you so certain this constitution will succeed?" The lecturer laconically replied that he had said nothing suggesting certitude, only a willingness to try again.

This is what I mean when I say we can't impose a democracy. I guess they still need a constitution in case they ever decide to use it.

In two countries, Lewis notes dryly, both the government and the people are pro-American -- Turkey and Israel, the region's two democracies. "We slight the one and bully the other." This is a pity because the democratic values of each, but particularly of Israel, attract attention.

I don't understand this one. How do we bully Israel? Sometimes the reverse seems true. I miss the point entirely on Turkey. How does he propose that we treat them?