Where was democracy dirst practiced ?

Old Greece was a loose collection of independent city states known as poles in its early period. Many were the oligarchies of these poles. Sparta was Greece's leading oligarchy and the state the most frequently and fruitfully comparable to democratic Athens.

it foreshadows the theme of the paragraph and hints the topic that will be discussed in the paragraph!

roosevelt believed that in light of the country's recent military successes, it was unnecessary to use force to achieve foreign policy goals, so long as the military could threaten force. this belief, and his strategy of “speaking softly and carrying a big stick,” shaped much of roosevelt's foreign policy.