To Karen Hughes: Not So Fast

Presidential Envoy to Patch Ridiculously Strained Relations Across The World and Official Commissioner to Win Hearts and Minds Among [Not Yet Forced To Be] Democratic Societies Karen P. Hughes faced a stiff crowd of women in Saudi Arabia. Seems they weren't quite so excited to hear some of her ideas on women's role in democratic society and the women's lifestyle changes that will come with it: You'd do well to actually consider the wants and needs of the populations you're appealing to. Because, one thing we don't necessarily want, is what you're offering:

The audience - 500 women covered in black at a Saudi university - seemed an ideal place for Karen P. Hughes, a senior Bush administration official charged with spreading the American message in the Muslim world, to make her pitch.

But the response on Tuesday was not what she and her aides expected. When Ms. Hughes expressed the hope here that Saudi women would be able to drive and "fully participate in society" much as they do in her country, many challenged her.

"The general image of the Arab woman is that she isn't happy," one audience member said. "Well, we're all pretty happy." The room, full of students, faculty members and some professionals, resounded with applause.

The administration's efforts to publicize American ideals in the Muslim world have often run into such resistance. For that reason, Ms. Hughes, who is considered one of the administration's most scripted and careful members, was hired specifically for the task.

Many in this region say they resent the American assumption that, given the chance, everyone would live like Americans.

Hughes' job is to, of course, convince everybody that they do want to, in fact, live like Americans. But it turns out that American cultural imperialism isn't so easy to force. We haven't had any successes so far. It seems as though taking more time to study, consider, and work out cultural differences will be necessary for global survival. American hegemony only gets us so far.