re: Two years later...
Japan's democracy was imposed from the outside by military force and it's done just fine.
Besides, the rest of the Middle East dominoes will likely fall from internal revolutions as EE did. We're seeing it now in Lebanon. Iraq is just the spark.
For better or for worse the Middle East will never be the same since we stopped supporting "stability" (i.e., propping up tyrants) and started promoting democracy.