Marinko Ogorec said that he believes there are different forms of democracy in the world, and the American standard of democracy is not the only one.

ZAGREB, March 31 (Xinhua) -- The American standard of democracy is definitely not the only standard of democracy, let alone a model for the world, said a Croatian political analyst.

The United States cannot be the only judge on democracy, Marinko Ogorec told Xinhua in an interview on Tuesday as the United States convened the second so-called "Summit for Democracy" Tuesday through Thursday.

Although the Cold War is over, the Cold War mentality of "either you are with us or against us" is unfortunately still at work, as many people in the world still think in those terms but "that way of thinking is totally wrong," he said.

Democracy has never been the monopoly of any country as every country in the world has the right to choose a path of democratic development that suits its own national conditions, Ogorec said.

"I agree with China. Every society and every way of thinking has its own path, and it must be respected. Democracy is indeed respect for all different paths and different ways of thinking," he said.

Ogorec said that he believes there are different forms of democracy in the world, and the American standard of democracy is not the only one.

As every democracy has its specialities as well as shortcomings, including the American standard of democracy, if people are satisfied with their model of democracy in a society, their model of democracy is acceptable and must be respected, Ogorec said.

"The basic principle of democracy is not to impose your model and your social values on others," Ogorec noted, adding that different forms of democracy should be respected just like different values and traditions.

"Only when we respect those differences can we talk about democracy," he said.