Rhetorically, Bush has made the promotion of democracy, especially in the Middle East, a central theme of his administration. "This young century will be liberty's century," Bush said last month at the Republican National Convention. "By promoting liberty abroad, we will build a safer world." Last year, in a speech before the National Endowment for Democracy, Bush criticized past administrations for turning a blind eye to autocratic governments in the Middle East. "Sixty years of Western nations excusing and accommodating the lack of freedom in the Middle East did nothing to make us safe -- because in the long run, stability cannot be purchased at the expense of liberty," Bush said. But, with only tentative and belated exceptions, mostly involving Powell, the Bush administration has remained largely silent as Putin has slowly dismantled democratic institutions, including taking over or closing all independent national television channels, establishing dominance of both houses of parliament, reasserting control over the country's huge energy industry and jailing or driving into exile business tycoons who have defied him.