Ken, you know I promote the example of the US experience as a model for government structure in principle rather than as some cure that must be taken on face value. I advocate for the COIN value of ensuring no single element of government can become too effective or powerful, and for ensuring the populace is always armed, informed, and allowed to peaceably assemble as a additional check on government; also that in protecting some core collection individual and collective rights and in identifying clear mechanisms for affecting governance one can keep a populace from drifting in to insurgency.

What type of government, what rights, what procedures? It is the logic behind the framework that is important, not the specific framework or what is hung upon it.

No one will ever hear me promote 6 years as the perfect term length for a senator, or 25 as the model for eligibility for congress, or that two houses is the only way to go, etc, etc, etc.

Only that this document was written with a keen eye to preventing insurgency, and has several mechanisms designed for that purpose that have proven quite effective. But until one is willing to swallow the hard fact that the vast majority of insurgent causation radiates out from government, rather than in toward government from some "malign actor" employing "radical ideology" it may well be hard to appreciate the importance of such a governing document in the prevention of insurgency.

Similarly, until one is prepared to swallow the even harder fact that the vast majority of causation for international terrorism radiates outward as well in the form of foreign policy and engagement it may well be hard to appreciate the importance of reframing our approach to the world to better suit the one we live in today, rather than the one that existed some 60 years ago.

These uprisings in the Middle East are fueled by the same popular discontent that fuels those who bring terror to Western countries. Each of these countries will have to work out a solution to their distinct situation. I would encourage them to consider their role in causation and to make smart changes in how they govern. Yes, I would say "see what the US did, now understand why, and see if you can achieve similar functions that make sense for your country and your culture. I would also point out what Afghanistan did, and say, "don't do this, they created a constitution as rough on the Pashtuns as the Treaty of Versailles was on the Germans. Such vengeful, power hungry controlling documents sound good at the time, but they never seem to play out well in the long run.."

As for the US? This is our best opportunity yet to finally turn the corner on the GWOT, yet for that everyone is focused on what GEN Petraeus has to report from Afghanistan; and Libya and Bahrain are seen as largely unrelated to the war on terrorism. This is the sad irony. It is Iraq and Afghanistan (post the first 6 months) that have been largely unrelated to the GWOT; and our foreign policies in these places that are now on fire that should have been the main effort.