Sadder headlines notwithstanding, there is still a role for soft democracy promotion in this world. Freedom is not in retreat everywhere, and not every new democracy stares down the barrel of a great power’s gun. Further, there are more unstable democracies than consolidated ones.

Narrowly understood, democracy has universal appeal. People want to influence decisions about who will run their lives. In most parts of the world, then, soft democracy promotion designed to build opposition capacities is still relevant.

And ideas also matter. While the Framers’ motives for establishing our own democracy may have had roots in wallets and stomachs, ideas drove development of the world’s most stable democratic constitution. Equally important, ideas drove popular demand for the American Revolution and subsequent democratization of the United States.

It is difficult to prescribe a pill we do not ourselves take, however. Larry Diamond, Tom Melia and Eric Bjornlund often raise or at least allude to this point. Those who believe in democracy enough to promote it abroad should from time to time turn inward. Democratic ideals look hollow to other countries when the ‘model democracy’ doesn’t live up to them. Chinese and Russian dictators can undercut our soft strategies with references to gerrymandering, popular vote reversals, two-party duopoly, idiotic babble masquerading as campaigns, persistent racial inequality and voter suppression tactics.

Denis argues the question is now incumbent: how and why is international democracy integral to national security?

Another question is incumbent: how and why is continuation of the American democratic revolution integral to the international democratic revolution? Rather than giving up on soft strategies, taking that issue seriously might partly renew them.