"We believe any reform will expose the fact that there are universal values and freedoms that people aspire to," Rice said, with the foreign minister of dynastic Saudi Arabia at her side. "We believe the people of the Middle East, we believe the people of Saudi Arabia, are no different in that regard."
Earlier in the day in Cairo, Rice took her case for wider political freedom directly to the Arab public with an address as notable for its setting — Egypt, an important U.S. ally — as its content.
"Throughout the Middle East, the fear of free choices can no longer justify the denial of liberty," Rice said at Cairo's American University. "It is time to abandon the excuses that are made to avoid the hard work of democracy."
Democracy is the "ideal path for every nation," Rice told a polite but restrained audience of about 600 invited government officials, academics and others.
Both Saudi Arabia and Egypt have taken some steps toward political change while insisting that reform must be on their terms and timetables.
Good things to say even if we don't need to start saying the same thing about Iran a little more forcefully in the months ahead.
