Rice Destructively Claims that the Bush Administration Was All about Democracy Promotion Posted by Ilan Goldenberg

An unappreciated element of the Bush administration's foreign policy legacy tour these past few days is how much damage they are doing to the argument that democracy promotion must be part of American foreign policy.  Condoleezza Rice on Meet the Press this morning argued that the Bush administration's policies will be judged favorably in the long run because they promoted freedom, democracy, and American values around the world.  Unfortunately, President Bush didn't really do any of these things in a meaningful way and by claiming that it was the centerpiece of his foreign policy legacy, Rice only undermines the ideas themselves.

Just look at the results.  Iraq is an ethnically splintered and still violent country where it appears the Prime Minister this week used a "counter-terrorism task force" to go after political opponents.  It is undoubtedly more free then it was under Saddam Hussein, but considering the incredible cost in lives both to the Iraqis and the United States, is this the model of democratization we are looking for?  Meanwhile, Afghanistan is in major trouble with the Taliban making a comeback.  The Cedar Revolution in Lebanon, once hailed as an example of Bush's democratization policy, is now essentially defeated with Hezbollah the most powerful political force in the country.  The West Bank and especially Gaza are in horrible shape, due in large part to the Bush administration's schizophrenic policies of pushing so hard for elections and then refusing to recognize the results.  Egypt and Saudi Arabia, which seemed to be making steps towards democracy in 2005, have regressed.

This isn't a legacy of democracy and values promotion.  This is a legacy of doing things halfway.  If the Bush administration had genuinely believed in spreading liberal democracy it would have stayed focused on Afghanistan, instead of moving on so quickly to Iraq.  It would have actually focused on helping build  and support Palestinian institutions instead of completely ignoring the problem for five years as too complicated and then deciding that the solution was Palestinian elections.  It would not have invaded Iraq without any kind of postwar plan for how to bring stability and good governance.  It would have recognized that liberal democracy is about a lot more than militarily toppling a government or holding an election. 

Now, one could argue that trying and failing to do something good is better than not trying at all.  But in this case that is simply not true.  By couching its foreign policy in the guise of "democracy promotion" the Bush administration has undermined the very idea with the American public.  Moreover, they've deflated the efforts of democratic reformers around the world, who listened to American encouragement and took bolder steps only to find that they have little of the international support they'd expected (Egypt over the past few years is a good example of this).   And they damaged American credibility worldwide as countries see that our high-minded rhetoric is not backed by any real substance.

There is a whole separate debate about whether or not one believes that democracy promotion should be a central element of American foreign policy (I have mixed views.  But where the U.S. can help, especially in a non-violent way, it absolutely should).   But on the question of the Bush administration's legacy and democracy promotion, contrary to Rice's assertions, I believe that fifty years from now this administration will be seen as doing grave damage to the cause  - not as one of its strongest proponents. 

Comments

[lmoragne]

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[Dan Kervick]

Ilan,

The damage to the cause of democracy promotion was done chiefly by the long queues of noted democracy promoters who lined up to support the Iraq War. The Bermans, Ignatieffs, Kleinfelds and Beinarts of our political establishment chose to tie democracy promotion to the machinery of military violence and imperial power, signing up for an aggressive war that was not justified by any credible and imminent security threat. They are now reaping the diseased harvest of the tainted seeds they sowed.

I didn't notice a lot of liberal interventionists complaining about the awful Bush agenda when they were still cheering the war, and gushing over the rhetoric of his second inaugural address back in 2004.

I really wish people would drop it with this notion that we should have stayed focused on Afghanistan, presumably to help democracy flower in the rugged outlaw land of tribes, poppies and warlords. I'm extremely concerned about Obama's plans to rededicate the country and NATO to a stepped-up commitment to Afghanistan. If Obama continues to heed this siren call, he will end up not as the new FDR, but the new LBJ. His progressive economic, environmental and energy agenda at home will be wrecked by a futile, costly and deadly military commitment, every bit as wrongheaded as Iraq and Vietnam.

[Zathras]

Is there really "...a whole separate debate about whether or not one believes that democracy promotion should be a central element of American foreign policy"? If so, it's a pretty quiet one.

This may be because the most vocal democracy promoters are focused on several countries where democracy has never existed, which possess political cultures that can be fairly described as barbaric, and which (in at least two cases) require very large American military commitments because nothing resembling democracy promotion can be attempted there in any other way. The debate might be more interesting and relevant if it involved what we can do to support democratic forces in a country like, say, Russia. What has actually happened, though, is that democracy promotion has been adopted as a policy rationale in the most unlikely places on earth because democracy is a concept with great appeal in American domestic politics. Americans favor democracy, think nations becoming more democratic are becoming more like themselves, and are inclined (other things being equal) to believe the United States ought to be supporting good democrats against evil anti-democrats.

Other things were not equal for quite a while, once it became clear that the Iraq adventure had turned into a quagmire of significant dimensions. Now the Iraq has quieted down, there appears to be a renewal of talk about the democracy promotion mission -- but, again, in places where the odds against it succeeding at acceptable cost are very high, or in tiny, insignificant places like Lebanon that get on the news a lot because of the frequency with which things get blown up there. A serious debate about the place of democracy promotion in American foreign policy might focus on what can be done in the countries that matter.

[Dan Kervick]

The Guardian sends another cheery missive from the front lines of democracy promotion:

It was 7.30 on a hot July morning when the plane came swooping low over the remote ravine. Below, a bridal party was making its way to the groom's village in an area called Kamala, in the eastern province of Nangarhar, to prepare for the celebrations later that day.

The first bomb hit a large group of children who had run on ahead of the main procession. It killed most of them instantly.

A few minutes later, the plane returned and dropped another bomb, right in the centre of the group. This time the victims were almost all women. Somehow the bride and two girls survived but as they scrambled down the hillside, desperately trying to get away from the plane, a third bomb caught them. Hajj Khan was one of four elderly men escorting the bride's party that day.

"We were walking, I was holding my grandson's hand, then there was a loud noise and everything went white. When I opened my eyes, everybody was screaming. I was lying metres from where I had been, I was still holding my grandson's hand but the rest of him was gone. I looked around and saw pieces of bodies everywhere. I couldn't make out which part was which."

Relatives from the groom's village said it was impossible to identify the remains. They buried the 47 victims in 28 graves.

If only that accursed Bush weren't so determined to "do things halfway." Only 47 victims? Who the hell missed that grandfather?! I trust Barack Obama will sent more men and ordinance to Afghanistan and finish the job.

[Peace]

The Bush adminstration never really believed in the concept of democracy promotion as seen in there actions against the democratically elected government in Palestine. The Bush administration never talked to Hamas representatives, even though they make up a majority in the Palestinian parliament. To add insult to injury the Bush administration enforced sanctions against the Palestinian territories that created a humantitarian disaster. The Bush administration only supports democracy so long as supports US foreign policy.

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