About three weeks ago in Bosnia, the international community supervised surprisingly successful municipal elections that are a critical element of our collaborative strategy to help the people of that shattered land continue the slow, troubled, uneven but crucial task of constructing a stable, unified state. Just the mention of Bosnia provides a potent reminder of how difficult this whole subject is. I gather from John that in your own discussions yesterday and today, you have spoken more about democratization than about democracy. That is, I think, the right terminology. No society can transform the way it governs itself overnight or in a year or even in a decade.
Democratization is the work of a generation or more.
That is in part because establishing a real democracy means more than simply drafting a constitution and having a single election. In this regard, and in conclusion, I would like to strike a note of self-reflection on behalf of your American hosts. And certainly our national experience here in the United States bolsters the case for taking the long view even as we face the difficulties of the moment. When we look at the many new democracies in the world today, our determination to help is rooted in admiration, not condescension. We look at how far they have come in a few short years, and we think about how long it has taken us to get it even approximately right here in the United States.