ABSTRACT
President Bush's November 2003 speech to the US Institute of Democracy was widely noted as one of the most important of his career. The speech made three points. First, it blamed Middle East's political and economic problems on a lack of freedom and openness. Second, it dismissed the view that Islam or Arab culture is inherently incompatible with democracy. Third, it conceded that "Sixty years of Western nations' excusing and accommodating the lack of freedom in the Middle East did nothing to make us safe".
