Victor Davis Hanson, a former advisor to the Bsuh administration, has advocated for the violent “export of democracy” to the “uncivilized” East.
With a typically Eurocentrist mindset, Hanson claims in the video below that history, civilization and democracy essentially began in ancient Greece. To bolster his Nordicism, Hanson resorts to the denigration of Persia, by selectively focusing on the battles Darius the Great had to fight to secure his throne (like almost all historical figures in human history), yet makes no mention of facts such as the following:
a) “Democracy” did not originate in Greece – this was practice by the Elamites of southwest Iran as well as by the Zoroastrian Magi.
2) Cyrus the Great’s enlightened policies with respect to diverse peoples, religions and cultures – notably his liberation of the Jews and the rebuilding of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem – see for example below:
3) The Golden Age of Greece overlaps with the existence of the Achamenid Empire – many Greek thinkers were influenced by philosophies from the “east”.
