I thank you for the input, Mr. Cullen.
I did come here very much with the intent of just putting forward some broad themes, as opposed to suggesting where we are. I wanted to very much invite you to give us input as to where you think we should be going as a government, particularly in the area of promotion of democracy.
There are some other bodies that I neglected to mention in response to Mr. Wilfert, including GOPAC, which Mr. Williams has shown a great deal of leadership on. They had a recent conference, I believe, in Tanzania, which was quite successful. The Department of Foreign Affairs supported that to a large degree. There's the international rights and democracy work that's being done within the department as well as other civil society bodies and organs. There's the Democracy Council, the Forum of Federations, and the Parliamentary Centre, which also very much promotes just what you've said, the participation of parliamentarians themselves, and legislators who go abroad bring to bear their expertise and interest in areas of promotion.
So I know your intent is very much to expand our reach into areas, including failed states that you've suggested, which I would be quick to add also includes Afghanistan. Afghanistan is another country where, sadly, if years ago we had not abandoned Afghanistan, we might not find ourselves in the position we're in today. Somalia, you point out, is another very salient country; and Sudan and Darfur, the same. Haiti is another example where they were making progress and fell back. To a somewhat lesser degree, we have to embrace those shortcomings, but also not make the same mistakes.
Georgia comes to mind as a country that is, again, making great strides, but we can't abandon them or simply say our work there is done because they've been able to achieve democratic elections and are well on their way. We have to continue to support them into the future. But I take your comments to heart.