Values

So we go to war to defend our values. So my question is, what do we do when our values conflict? We value economic stablity and liberal democracy. We used to value stopping communism. That's why we supported the shah in Iran, South Vietnam, and South Korea. The problem is, those regimes weren't democratic. In the case of South Vietnam and Iran, we failed partially because we were too dependent on the leaders. In South Korea, we forced the leaders to reform, which is partially why South Korea has turned out so well. Was sacrificing our belief in liberal democracy part of the reason we grew so dependent on a particular regime? And if so, doesn't that bode ill for our support for Saudi Arabia (among others)? We support an undemocratic regime there for economic reasons, and we lack the power (or will) to force them to reform.