Democracy, not various forms of dictatorship, is the system best equipped to reconcile these values.

Who's the better of the two? A dictator by conviction, or a democrat by compulsion?

Our interests in security and our interests in democracy are indivisible,

We are not to be accused of an intention to establish an Islamic caliphate in Uzbekistan,

The best weapon of a dictatorship is secrecy, but the best weapon of a democracy should be the weapon of openness.

is not a price for the right to have a base, it is a payment for material services provided by the Uzbek side.