Makes sense. Neither of the big powers approve of the Arab Spring, with its dangerous example of dictators coming to bad ends. Plus, Russia wants to save a customer for its military hardware. And it is surely the horselaugh of the week, to hear the Russian foreign ministry make noises about using its influence to liberalize the Asad regime. Very cynical
But China's opposition is more troublesome. The present state of things in China may well be the shape of things to come in a post-democratic world order. It gives hope to dictators, to think that they can have totalitarian control over a country that is nevertheless stable and prosperous, as China's communist party does. Doesn't bode well for the future of freedom, for that reason as well as for the failure of democratization in Egypt, so far.
