A quote:
"The United States flaunts the banner of democracy in the Middle East only when that advances its economic, military, or strategic interests. The history of the past six decades shows that whenever there has been conflict between furthering democracy in the region and advancing American national interests, U.S. administrations have invariably opted for the latter course. Furthermore, when free and fair elections in the Middle East have produced results that run contrary to Washington's strategic interests, it has either ignored them or tried to block the recurrence of such events."
The quote is from Dilip Hiro's article 'How America Furthers Its National Interests in the Middle East.' It can be juxtaposed to the rosey view of John Rawls mentioned here.