What does ‘democracy’ mean for you? Reset posed the question to two prominent intellectuals – one belonging to the Western tradition and one from the Arabic tradition. The result is the dialogue published below, which takes its starting point from a text written for Resetdoc by Carlo Galli. Andrew Arato, the editor of Constellations and professor of Political Theory at New York’s New School, does nothing to mask the limits of current Western liberal democracies, but states that democracy represents “the only response the the profound crisis of the Arab world.” The response of Hassan Hanafi, professor of philosophy at the University of Cairo, is caustic: "Democracy is a means, not an end, and liberal democracy is not the magic key that opens all the secrets of the world."