A Democracy is always the best form of government for personal, economic and social freedoms, however not all nations can handle a Western democracy and a democracy as such may not be the answer. First we need to think about how Western democracy works. A perfect example is the two party systems like the U.S.A. and U.K. (effectively two parties; Republican and Democrat, or Torry and Labour) then it only works with the undecided or non-aligned voters who change allegiance depending on various social and economic factors which interest them. There are large groups who always vote for one party or the other, but it is the undecided voters who decide the outcome of the election. Hence, U.S. elections are very much focused on the “swing” states that decide the outcome. In the Arab world you have Shia and Sunni Muslims and no swing voters, whichever has the majority in that country always gets into power creating a large disenchanted minority.
Some countries are so bitterly divided they could never have democracy and are broken up to separate the warring factions. Once the similar groups are divided, then Western democracy can function; e.g. India (Hindu) and Pakistan (Muslim); the old Yugoslavia into Bosnia, Serbia and Croatia.
To bring democracy to the Ukraine the territorial boundaries will need to be re-drawn to keep like minded groups together. The Ukraine is split into a West leaning population and a Russian leaning population. And unfortunately for the average citizen that just wants to live a tranquil life. These two polarized faction will not remain quiet and peaceful.
Personally I don’t like the why the Russians are handling the referendum and the annexation. There needs to be a rule of law. This has been a complete one handed exchange by Russia.
Well, I reacted to delft's "probability post" (#490 in this thread) and my point was his scenario was as likely as any other ... Personally, I feared the hostilities would start during the night 1-2 March (right after Putin was authorized to use Russian Armed Forces abroad): I expected Ukrainian bases in the Crimea to be besieged immediately, and somebody making a mistake (a machine gunner, for example). Fortunately, I was wrong!
