Experts and policy makers are still wrestling with the challenges of whether and how to promote democracy in authoritarian states that are key allies and of strategic importance to the United States. In these cases, applying a principled approach consistent with our rhetoric by pressuring governments to ease repression and instituting real democratic reform could unleash forces far worse than what now exists in these countries, some believe. Often, authoritarian governments that the United States needs and that need the United States, especially in the fight against terrorism, are unwilling to liberalize and warn that to do so would risk bringing extremist forces to the fore. On the other hand, some argue, the failure to oppose regimes viewed as corrupt and ruthless by their own people has been pointed to as one of the major factors impeding U.S. success in the larger battle for “hearts and minds,” especially in the Islamic World from which terrorists seek to draw recruits and support.
Order Code RL34296
ReplyDeleteCRS Report for Congress
Democracy Promotion: Cornerstone of U.S. Foreign Policy?
December 26, 2007
Susan B. Epstein, Nina M. Serafino, and Francis T. Miko
Specialists in Foreign Policy
Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Trade Division
http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/row/RL34296.pdf
The imposition of democracy through military intervention, with the ultimate goal of imposing a new democratic system, is, if possible, even more problematic. Regime change through military force has worked in some cases, such as Grenada in 1983 and Panama in 1989, where the goal was to restore a pre-existing constitutional order. In more recent military interventions in Afghanistan and Iraq to oust existing despotic regimes, the goal of building democracy initially was secondary, but later became primary. The difficulties of establishing democracy in those cases is reminiscent of other cases of military intervention by the United States and other countries, such as Somalia, Lebanon, and Vietnam, where questions were raised as to whether the cultural or institutional basis for democracy exists, and whether such conditions could be fostered through intervention. While some doubt that even limited democracy is possible in such cases, others argue that U.S. interests in promoting democracy in Afghanistan and Iraq, as models for Middle Eastern development, is so high that the United States would be making a serious error if it did not try.
ReplyDeleteEven if democracy becomes clearly defined, can administrations investing in democracy promotion ever rest assured that a country transitioning toward democratic reform will not backslide? According to a leading democracy expert, “Democracy can deteriorate at any point in its development; its quality and stability can never be taken for granted.” Some question if — once the United States has been involved in democracy promotion in a particular country — it can ever withdraw. And others wonder how many countries can the U.S. government push toward democracy before the American taxpayer says “enough.” By clearly identifying, targeting, and coordinating assistance to countries that have the greatest potential for succeeding to become democracies, the U.S. taxpayers stand the best chance of benefitting from a foreign policy that includes funding democracy reform overseas.
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