![]() For many of them, however, freedom, democracy, and human rights just refer vaguely to a world free of the misuse of authority. True, in a great variety of cultures many people say they want “freedom,” “democracy,” and “human rights,” and they indeed are eager to vote. The Bush administration mistakenly assumes people in just about all cultures are ready and eager to put primacy on the long and difficult struggle to build workable democratic institutions. The president’s foreign policy, however, is based on two dubious premises: (1) that in any society democratization is the key to the improvement of political life and (2) that the feasibility of democratization is not contingent on cultural conditions. In February, he showed that he meant what he said, when he and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice chose to adopt a confrontational posture in dealing with not only the dictatorships in North Korea and Iran but also undemocratic tendencies in Russia and Egypt. The inspiring spectacle on January 30 of courageous Iraqis going to the polls gave his bold words a ring of credibility, as he evoked an American idealism going back to the foreign policies of Woodrow Wilson, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and Jimmy Carter. He brilliantly redefined our struggle in Iraq, turning it from a predicament that wiser leaders might have avoided into a quest for a world free of terrorism. ![]() In his recent State of the Union address, President Bush said that spreading democracy throughout the world was the best way to make our country secure.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |