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EVERYONE knows that business isn't good these days, and now we can add the business of democracy promotion to the list. The world may have woken up to a global economic recession in the past year, but a global political recession has been underway for at least three years. According to Freedom House, 2008 was the third consecutive year in which there was a decline in freedom worldwide, the first three-year setback in the past 15 years.

Moreover, the Obama administration hasn't offered much comfort. No senior officials seem to have democracy promotion as part of their portfolio.

So, in these tough economic times, many civil-society advocates have turned to one of the economic crises' silver linings for hope: the fall in the price of oil. Last summer, oil was trading at a...