Syria is a mess. The non-Sunni's hold the power yet are the minority (25%) while the Sunni's (75%) want democracy which will essentially marginalise the minority.

While democracy is a theoretical ideal, in the case of Syria, it is not necessarily so. After all the recent bloodshed, it is unlikely a democracy will see fair treatment of the minority for some time, more likely it will result in an inversion of the status quo.

RE Iraq, the country was much better off under Saddam (particularly in the last 5-10 years) than it has been since. I think Iraq may have eventually gone down the path of the rest of the "Arab Spring" though, following the lead of Egypt, Lybia and now Syria. I don't think the outcome will have been too much different in the long run. Hindsight is a wonderful thing.

But you never know, they may have followed Indonesia's lead and had a peaceful transition to democracy (still a work in progress btw). Hmmm, maybe not.

America's idea of a democracy is where it runs all the other democracies and nations using nuclear force if necessary.

American hegemony is well advanced but Russia and China might tip its applecart.

I hope so! A world run by the U.S. would be a nightmare.