The west supports democracy when democracy supports the west. But Egypt further proves that, for the west, freedom is a question of strategy not principle. That’s why, while most of the world looked on at the throngs in Cairo with awe and admiration, western leaders eyed them with fear and suspicion. They know that if the Arab world gets to choose its own leaders, those leaders would be less supportive of everything from rendition and Iran to Iraq and the blockade of Gaza. The west’s foreign policy in the region has not simply tolerated a lack of democracy, it has been actively dependent on dictatorships
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/feb/13/west-no-longer-honest-broker-peace