Republics are a form of democracy, but I think that "bringing democracy" was always just an excuse to invade countries for natural resources and to fight proxy wars to contain other world powers.

If you're complaining that i.e. a k-12 education misrepresented the government in the USA and didn't adequately explain the reasons behind it, this is a common gripe among conservatives/republicans, that kids get educated to believe that the republic system is unfair due to states electing presidents and congresspeople instead of direct democracy, and that the system would be better if it was a direct democracy. In particular, the Federalist Papers #10 discusses why representative democracy is more anti-fragile (to use a modern term) than direct democracy.