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Originally Posted by politcophile
The question is this: what, if anything, should liberal cultures do to encourage illiberal cultures to change their ways?
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This is THE major issue of the early 21st century, isn't it. How completely different societies, brought together via Globalization, should deal with eachother.
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Originally Posted by willravel
Because, IMO, there are no liberal countries, and no illiberal countries, only shades of gray, there should be no holier than thou attitude.
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I think you may be confusing the 2 concepts. Removing the 'holier than thou' attitude (as you see it), doesn't preclude a society from being historically more or less 'liberal'. There are (and have always been) nations closed off from the rest of the world (purposely so), and there are nations less closed off. I think the major nations of the world have a certain responsibility to help bring the minor nations UP to their level, instead of the minor nations bringing other nations DOWN to their level.
To quote Thomas Friedman:
"Does your society have more memories than dreams or more dreams than memories?”
This is the key to measuring how your country is dealing with Globalization. Do closed, struggling nations want to live in their glorious (real or imagined) pasts, or do they want to modernize by working with (not against) the rest of the world?