The political rhetoric behind ‘regime change’ in the Middle East relies on the idea of introducing democracy to the region, with a gradual knock-on effect. For those in the area the notion has quite different connotations, partly as a result of the invasion of Iraq. This study explores the responses of university students to the term. They are from a state sympathetic to the West and not in any way militant, but they are vociferous in their interpretation of ‘democracy’ and its associations.
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