corrente

Doing the same thing again and expecting a different result.

Like imposing democracy at gunpoint, for example.

George W. Downs and Bruce Bueno de Mesquita opine in the LA Times:

Presidents rarely fail to trot out "democracy" as a justification for their actions abroad. That's because it is popular with Americans, who like to feel they are on the side of the angels. But if it's democracy we're after, we are failing miserably.

Between World War II and the present, the United States intervened more than 35 times in developing countries around the world. But our research shows that in only one case — Colombia after the American decision in 1989 to engage in the war on drugs — did a full-fledged, stable democracy with limits on executive power, clear rules for the transition of power, universal adult suffrage and competitive elections emerge within 10 years. That's a success rate of less than 3%.

Of course, that definition of insanity is from AA. Too bad aWol never made it to a meeting, isn't it?