Democracy has become a dirty word in the Middle East thanks to the debacle the Bush administration has made of it. However, the idea of democracy - opportunity for all - is still an idea cherished by everyone but the dictators who control the destinies of citizens of most Middle Eastern countries.
Part of the reason for the distaste is the administration's reaction to the election of Hamas, which I wrote about here. How can someone actively promote democracy and then condemn it when the results are not to their liking? It's called dictating, folks, as in dictatorship. Sure, y'all can vote, but your vote is only valid if we like who you voted for!
Of course, Iraq's accomplished mission has done the most damage to democracy's image in the Muslim world. This administration needs to take Political Theory 101 to learn why taking down the country that was maintaining the balance of power in a region is a bad idea. It's a shame, a tragedy really, that a whole generation across the globe will spend its life on Earth trying to clean up the mess and make up the time we lost in moving backwards from a more harmonious planet where human rights reign supreme. Ooh, that sounds so hippy, doesn't it? Well, that was the admini$tration'$ line of rea$oning behind democracy promotion.
Putting the mistakes of this administration aside (I know it's hard, but do it for a second), there are still critics of democracy promotion, including those who say we are imposing our values on other societies, those who claim Islam is incompatible with democracy, and those to whom democracy is a threat to their absolutism. To these people I say how dare you! How can you oppose the basic human right to have control over your own destiny?
WE ARE IMPOSING OUR VALUES
In some respects, this camp has a point. The way democracy promotion has been executed by this administration lends some truth to the statement. However, democracy is not synonymous with Western liberalism. This is the fundamental flaw in Bush's strategy (and I use the term "strategy" loosely.) These people refuse to listen to anyone who fogs their green, I mean rose colored glasses, and the absolute view of democracy these people take has soured the true meaning of the word.
ISLAM IS INCOMPATIBLE WITH DEMOCRACY
People who say this understand neither Islam nor democracy. Much has been written on this topic, so I won't say any more here.
THREAT TO ABSOLUTISM
Anyone who advocates absolutism should be sent to live in one of these countries with no way out. People say, “the people want a king!” Yeah, well, some people wanted Bush, too, but a lot of us didn’t, and fortunately we don’t have to put up with him for a lifetime. Those who love their kings may truly love them and want them to rule over them, but what about those who don’t? When you aren’t allowed to say anything against your king, how do you know how many people don’t want the king? And if he is so loved, let him be elected to power!
I went to a roundtable today entitled "Democracy That Delivers: Practical Approaches to Building Political Institutions and Addressing Social Needs" at the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI). A lot of it was the same development rhetoric I am used to hearing on account of my three-year employment in the democracy field. However, there were a few things that I found interesting or irritating.
The idea that Islamist groups are becoming popular because of the social services they provide was discussed in detail. Until now, democracy promoters have failed to grasp the idea that social aspects of democracy need to be included in any democratic development. A state revolves around three spheres – political, economic, and social – all of which are interrelated and inseparable from one another. The reason so many theories and ideologies are flawed is that one of these is often missing. Take libertarianism, for example. There is no social aspect to it; indeed, it is the opposite, as the individual reigns supreme. It relies on the goodness of private citizens to keep a society together, and well, one needs only to open his eyes to see what human nature is really like.
Democracy promotion has long been dominated by the political sphere, which focuses on elections. Elections do not a democracy make, people. If the rule of law has not been established, there is no rhyme or reason giving those elections any meaning. There was a period of time when a group of people, I do believe they were called modernists, believed that by establishing a market economy first would subsequently lead to the democratization of governments. That, too, has been proved wrong. Rather recently, groups like NDI have realized that all three realms need to improve simultaneously. You can’t have democracy without a market economy, and you can’t have a true market economy without democracy, but you also can’t have either without the participation of all of society. (Some will argue socialism, but all true socialist governments have failed. Scandinavia, as much as socialists don’t want to admit, is a market economy. The socialism comes in the social realm of it all.)
Islamist groups have also realized that you can’t ignore the social needs of the people and are doing well in the political and economic realms these days because of it. What is interesting to note is that Christian parties had a great hand in the rise of Western democracy in Europe. We’d call them fundies now just like we call the Islamic parties fundy parties, but the truth of the matter is that Christian parties like the CDU in Germany got their starts in providing social services to the people. Strange how things evolve, huh? Reconsider your thoughts on involving Islamist parties in governments – just because they have an Islamic agenda doesn’t mean they are going to blow things up. (However, Senator Frist, there is no way in hell we should be including the Taliban in the Afghan government. Republican Frist, these people are Al-Qaeda and are at war against us, you idiot.)
Another thing that was discussed – or rather dictated – was a five minute speech given by a member of the State Department after the presenters were done and were answering questions. He started off with “First of all, as a member of the Bush administration…” Now, I’ve had to work with this guy in the past, but his speech made sense of all the difficulties I’ve had in dealing with him, whether directly or indirectly. He proceeded to distort truths, saying this administration thinks about more than just elections (then explain to me why y’all don’t think building economic institutions or civil society institutions are important enough to fund?) and finally ended with something to the effect of “this is really hard.” Actually, those were his exact words.
The Democrats should grab hold of democracy promotion as a foreign policy and make it right again, make it a word that brings joy and gratefulness to the hearts of the world. This should NOT be done with bombs, but with encouragement through funding civil society organizations of political, economic, and social natures in the Middle East to help them build the institutions necessary to a stable, healthy democracy. We believe that all people are created equal with certain inalienable rights – life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Democracy permits these rights to exist, and whatever form a democracy may take, it is a basic human right that we should help everyone obtain.
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