Declarations of a Liberal Interventionist ? Posted by Shadi Hamid

I was speaking at a conference this past April and had an interesting exchange with the predominantly left-of-center audience during the question and answer session. I said something along the lines of “the US has a moral obligation to fight tyranny and promote democracy throughout the Middle East.” God forbid. I heard grumbling in the crowd. Raised eyebrows. Frowns. Several people raised their hands, presumably to grill me about my just revealed neo-con affinities, or perhaps to attack me for my “muscular Wilsonianism.”

I continued, and presented them with a couple of choices. We can decide to be “sensitive” gradualists and let things evolve naturally. After all, it took the West centuries to make the transition to liberal, democratic life – so what’s the harm if we wait, say, 50 years to let the Egyptians build strong bottom-up democratic institutions, at their own pace ? (After all, if we move to quickly, it will empower Islamic fundamentalists, or so the argument goes.) – Or, option # 2, we can come to terms with the fact that we are the most powerful nation in the world and, more importantly, that we are a country founded upon a noble sense of mission. If we truly believe in democracy as the best available form of government, then it only makes sense that we marshal our country’s great influence, resources, and power in the service of the ideals to which we subscribe (note: "power" is the not the same thing as "military force").

Silence, on the other hand, is complicity. To wait and watch the Arab people suffer under the yoke of authoritarianism, and to do nothing, to say nothing, is an abdication of responsibility. If we give Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak $2 billion of economic and military aid each year, then we have a right to demand that our dollars not go toward legitimating an authoritarian regime which has denied the God-given rights and aspirations of a people for a quarter-century (Mubarak came to power the same year as Reagan). Not only is this about ideals, but it's also about  our national security. If people are not able to express their grievances and aspirations in legitimate, peaceful ways, then they will often resort to violence to accomplish their political objectives. That’s obviously not what we want. A 2003 study conducted by Princeton University Professor Alan Krueger and Czech scholar Jitka Maleckova, which analyzed a vast amount of data on terrorist attacks, came to the alarming conclusion that “the only variable that was consistently associated with the number of terrorists was the Freedom House index of political rights and civil liberties. Countries with more freedom were less likely to be the birthplace of international terrorists.”

In a perfect world, oppressed peoples would rise up on their own, demand their freedom, and force constructive change . However, in places like Egypt, where apathy reigns supreme, this is not going to happen anytime soon. The Egyptian opposition is notoriously fractious and has repeatedly failed to unite behind a common pro-democracy agenda. Coalitions rarely last more than a few months, if not a few weeks. The government, for its part, has mastered the art of divide and conquer and used the fears of Islamist ascendancy to convince secular liberals that secular authoritarianism is better than the alternative. The government has at its disposal an extensive security network which can crush at a moment’s notice any threatening display of anti-regime opposition.

For all these reasons, sustained external pressure is needed. This means telling President Mubarak that if the parliamentary elections this month are not sufficiently free and fair, we will begin to withhold economic aid. In other words, If you want our money than you have to agree to play by the rules of the democratic process. In the post 9-11 world, the Faustian bargain of silence in exchange for stability is no longer operable. That is the message which must be clearly relayed to those regimes which think that we will continue to turn a blind eye to their transgressions.

Comments

[Greg Priddy]

I highly reccommend listening to the edition of Christopher Lydon's radio show linked above -- in which he interviews Steve Clemons, Samantha Power, and David Rieff on the topic of "muscular Wilsonianism." It's a good start to the debate we need to have in the Democratic party...

[Dan Kervick]

I said something along the lines of “the US has a moral obligation to fight tyranny and promote democracy throughout the Middle East.”

In a perfect world, oppressed peoples would rise up on their own and demand their freedom. However, in places like Egypt, where apathy reigns supreme, this is not going to happen anytime soon.

So it is your view that the US has a moral obligation to fight tyranny and promote democracy even in countries where the people themselves are apathetic about tyranny and democracy?

It would be one thing thing to say that we have an obligation to assist those populations in which a deep and near-universal aspiration for liberty and democracy is thwarted by an oppressive regime. But if, as by your own account, the Egyptian population is apathetic about democratic change, then how can it be our obligation to accomplish that change? Are you saying that in addition to our role of global liberator, we first have to play global psychotherapist, and get apathetic people to feel passionately oppressed, so we can then liberate them from their newly-envigorated feelings of political misery?

Shouldn't it be clear by now that at least one of the reasons the American democratization project in Iraq has been such a failure is that once the existing tyranny was removed, we discovered there are a great many people in Iraq who simply wish to replace the old tyranny with new forms of authoritarianism, oligarchy, theocratic paternalism and oppressive rule?

[Ken C.]

“the US has a moral obligation to fight tyranny and promote democracy throughout the Middle East."

Does democracy promotion include the obligation to stop supporting apartheid regimes such as Israel?

"In a perfect world, oppressed peoples would rise up on their own and demand their freedom."

Indeed, we've seen this in Israel and on the West Bank, where a desperate, oppressed people rises up with brutal, futile gestures.

[Angryman]

C'mon. When are you people gonna enlist?

Ivo Daalder quoted Steven Cimbala today, at tpmcafe:

"Well, well, an interesting debate, and I'm glad to see that liberal interventionists are finally being held accountable for their well intended, but geostrategically naive, embrace of an imperial American prospect. The problem with the Wilsonians left and right, or perhaps, soft and hard says it better, is that they have spent too much time in elite conversations and paid insufficient attention to the sensibilities of Middle America.

America's armed forces are not an imperial policing force, nor are they a Red Cross. They are our kids, our students and our future. They should not be sent into harm's way unless a vital interest is at stake, the mission is clear, and a strategy for victory, both political and military, has been defined."

Damn straight. You want to fight tyranny everywhere? Enlist or send your own goddamn children.

[jayinbmore]

If I read your distinction between "power" and "military force" correctly it sounds like you're advocating a return to Clintonian style foreign policy: Use our "soft power" to influence change. This would certainly be better than invading and occupying countries who's leaders we don't like.

[JohnFH]

Thanks, Shadi, for your reasoned defense of a policy of democracy promotion in the Middle East.

Of course, we will pick our battles carefully. The destabilization of Syria, or Iran with a view to democratization are easier calls, because the regimes now in power there are sworn enemies of US interests. Even in the case of Syria or Iran, we will proceed with due diligence.

The time is probably not ripe for dramatic change in Egypt. But here's hoping.

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