For the past three decades, democracy promotion has been a staple, though oftentimes understated arm, of overall U.S. foreign policy. President Jimmy Carter advocated this agenda. Ronald Reagan advanced it as a weapon in the Cold War. And presidents since then have embraced democracy promotion initiatives, though none with the ideological fervor of George W. Bush.
Of late, this agenda has become a topic of heated debate here at home and abroad. Some of these programs are under assault in Arab countries, while in Washington, Bush-era critics of the Obama Administration are attacking the President saying that he hasn't done enough to promote democracy in the Arab World, nor has he acted to defend U.S. democracy efforts abroad.
Some of these Bush Administration officials were on hand for a conference on democracy promotion at Kenyon College this past week, making their case. I was a participant at the event.
The advocates of democracy promotion advance a number of arguments to make their case: "it's about being true to our values," "it's in our interests," "it is our moral obligation to improve the human condition" -- all of which resonate with American audiences who reflexively respond to any mention of "our ideals" and appeals to "American exceptionalism."
But as vigorous and at times passionate as this entire U.S. conversation might become, it ignores one fundamental question that must be addressed at the outset, and that is, "should America even be involved in democracy promotion in the Arab World?" In my remarks to the Kenyon College event, I provided a contrarian view that said, quite simply, "no."
I have a number of reasons for taking this stance. First and foremost, it is because I believe that America is not in the position to be the democracy promoters we fashion ourselves to be. We fail to recognize the damage that has been done to "brand America." While many Americans still want to see ourselves as "the shining city on the hill," we simply do not understand that is not how most Arabs see us. Two disastrous and bloody wars in Iraq and Afghanistan; the blind eye we have shown to Israeli violations of Palestinian rights and life; Guantanamo and the horrors of Abu Ghraib; torture, rendition, and "black sites"; and the treatment of Arabs and Muslims in America all have taken a toll on our credibility as advocates for democracy and human rights.
Our polling across the Arab World shows that not only has America's favorable rating hit bottom, but when asked to name "the biggest threat to peace and security in the region," more often than not, the U.S. is named.
As our polling makes clear, what most Arabs want from America is not democracy, it is for Washington to play a role in pressuring Israel to end its occupation of Palestinian lands. Additionally, many Arabs believe that U.S. investment can help create employment and build capacity in their countries. And despite the fact that in a number of Arab countries, reform and democracy concerns have emerged in the top tier of political priorities, in no case do Arabs indicate that they want American help in advancing these concerns. This they see as an unwanted intrusion into their domestic affairs.
There are, of course, those elements who do seek American support. Some in the Libyan and Syrian opposition have reached out in desperation, basically hoping that the U.S. would do a "job" for them. There are also some "democracy" activists who have found it useful to cultivate U.S. patronage. But none of these change the reality that for strong majorities across the Arab World, American involvement in democracy promotion is not wanted or seen as credible.
The reality is that because we don't listen to Arab voices or respect Arab public opinion, we operate blindly in the region, seeing what we want to see and hearing only those voices who say what we want to hear. We don't understand Arab society or the Arab people's political priorities or their real aspirations. Because of our sense of cultural superiority, we assume a "one size, fits all" model. Those who want what we have to offer, we celebrate as democrats, "just like us." Those who do not, we decry as backward.
In the end, we have too little knowledge about the history, culture, and people of the region to play a constructive role in transforming their societies. Our mistake in Afghanistan and Iraq was not just that we believed that we could use force to create a democratic order. It was that we assumed that we could play any constructive role in changing countries and peoples about whom about whom we knew so very little in the first place. This was true for our failed wars, and it is also true for our efforts at democracy promotion.
To his credit, President Obama got it right a year ago when he spoke about America's role in the "Arab Spring." He noted that we needed to approach these developments with a sense of humility. We hadn't created the Arab Spring (despite the vain attempts by some former Bush Administration officials to claim credit), nor could we lead or direct its course. What we could do is help with economic assistance to provide the promise of a better future and by solving the Arab-Israeli conflict. The president was right. But this, sadly, is what we have yet to do.
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Israel's neighbor states are third-world disasters. Israel isn't the problem. The repressive Arab states that shoot their own people and hang gay people are.
Economic indicators should tell the story. Arab countries are lagging behind, with a few exceptions, even in comparison to Asian countries and Asian Muslim countries.
Should we intervene in their systems of religion inerwoven with politics, the brutality, the murders, for example in Syria? Those are recurrent problems. In 1982 Hafez al Assad dealt with problems in Hama in the same way his son deals with it today. The powder kegs remain. The fuse just gets hosed periodically. Overpopulation with repression, no employment, poverty, lagging behind in all aspects with the surrounding word, can not be maintained in this cebntury, with international communications.
He who does not want to learn, must feel. The tyrants and their opppression can not survive, but they may take whole populations with them. They and the societies they maintain have long ago become irrelevant.
That is just an opinion. Mr. Zogby has another opinion.
The absurdity? The resolution was pieced together using language from speeches and statements American principals have made regarding Israel's illegal colonies. Rice was effectively vetoing American policy and then found herself in peculiar position of explaining why US was against settlements despite vetoing resolution.
US does not want to see another episode of this saga - let's call it Israel Island - repeated when Palestinians bring their application for membership to United Nations this week. No government enjoys isolation, especially not in today's interdependent and interconnected world and certainly not leading power in world politics.But it would be wrong to think that it is Palestinians that put United States in this uncomfortable position. To the contrary, US has been routinely vacationing on Israel Island for years. since 1972 US has been single, solitary veto on 42 Security Council resolutions condemning Israeli violations of human rights. Now, in light of the Arab uprisings and a recalcitrant Netanyahu government hell-bent on expanding Israeli colonies despite state US policy, Israel Island is not the comfortable destination it used to be.
Recently the USA was the sole vote of NO to Palestine Statehood
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2011/09/201191785718812831.html”
Nations should attempt to design their own government that best fits their purposes like we did in the United States. Use other nations as influences but in general they should dictate their own governance. If that means having a national religion sobeit. Many Americans seem to not know this but the States under our Federal constitution were able to establish State religions they just chose to abandon those State religions after adopting the Federal Constitution.
Given most nations are barely even the Size of American State, I think a national government elsewhere should not be so hounded as long as it is not used as a tool for oppression.