Thank you.
First of all, I want to compliment you on your paper. It's amazing how much meat there is in this paper. Almost every word has meaning.
It confirms or reinforces a concern I have that it's hard to encourage democracy in countries like Afghanistan. You say there are 30 languages spoken, and “Afghanistan's ethnic groups tend to consider themselves to be largely distinct from one another, and generally inhabit different regions of the country.” It must make it a huge challenge to develop a democracy as we know it, or even close to how we know it.
My question was going to be, is there a precedent for a country like Afghanistan, where there are 30 ethnic groups or whatever and they occupy certain specific regions of the country? Is there a precedent where a country has gone from the type of government they've always had to a democracy? Then I read a little further, and it says that many countries that have made steps towards democracy have “skilfully used a measure of state-monitored political openness to promote reforms that appear pluralistic but function to preserve autocracy”. So you answered the question.
Is there a precedent for a country like Afghanistan becoming a democracy, even close to what we consider a democracy?