When questioned on Iran and its role in the «Arab Spring» he acknowledged that the Islamic Republic had been a «bit part» player, furiously trying to prop up Syria, its only serious ally in the region, and that it needed to undergo a process of internal change both to make it less of a threat to the wider world and to better meet the growing democratic aspirations of its people. (blog.politics.ox.ac.uk)
In the years since, as the means of human destruction have grown ever greater, and the extent of humanity's willingness to deny the world has become ever more apparent, the profound truth of the analogy has also become increasingly evident, and its connection with democratic aspirations even stronger. (religion-online.org)
There had been an eruption of protest at the time of the Tienanmen massacre in 1989, but this was more a matter of outrage about the brutality of the repression rather than of frustrated democratic aspirations. (firstthings.com)