Perilous partners

American leaders have cooperated with regimes around the world that are, to varying degrees, repressive or corrupt. Such cooperation is said to serve the national interest. But these partnerships also contravene the nation's commitments to democratic governance, civil liberties, and free markets. During the Cold War, policymakers were casual about sacrificing important values for less-than-compelling strategic rationales. Since the attacks on 9/11, similar ethical compromises have taken place, although policymakers now seem more selective than their Cold War-era counterparts. Americans want a…