"America has powerful carrots to offer"

I agree with Tamara Cofman Wittes with the opinion that the United States shouldn’t consider promoting democracy a top priority. There are so many other priorities we, as a nation, could be focusing on. Plus “for liberalization to have real meaning, the regimes themselves must change”. America simply can’t step into another country and that alone will create a democracy. One problem Wittes saw was challenging “autocratic regimes from below by supporting local activists, the administration…is failing to challenge the regimes from above”. Also, as harsh as it could sound, some countries just need to learn to stand on their own. As Thomas Jefferson said, "Whenever the people are well-informed, they can be trusted with their own government". What is right and fitting for one country might not work for another. The world is diverse so it is only logical to have more than one type of country or government. As Akbar Ganji said, "You cannot bring democracy to a country by attacking it." I believe that everyone deserves human rights and democracy can help define those rights, but America can't expect to simply impose it on another country and have it work flawlessly. We should focus instead on human rights and democracy, hopefully, will follow.