Democracy Arsenal

« MEMO: START is Urgent, Legitimacy Matters, and Afghanistan is Difficult | Main | The President's Mixed-Breed Heritage »

July 07, 2009

A Great Day for American Foreign Policy
Posted by Michael Cohen

Today in Russia, President Barack Obama said something that, as a foreign policy wonk, truly made me smile:

America cannot and should not seek to impose any system of government on any other country, nor would we presume to choose which party or individual should run a country. And we haven't always done what we should have on that front.

Even as we meet here today, America supports now the restoration of the democratically-elected President of Honduras, even though he has strongly opposed American policies. We do so not because we agree with him. We do so because we respect the universal principle that people should choose their own leaders, whether they are leaders we agree with or not.

These words literally made me light-headed. The first part of what the President said is sort of boilerplate: we won't impose democracy or our system of government on another country, yada-yada, even when we do. But the second part is what we in the business call, walking the walk.

Few things did more to lessen US credibility on the issue of democracy promotion than the Bush Administration's propensity to push for democratic election - and then throw a hissy fit when our candidate did not win. The 2005 victory of Hamas in Palestine is perhaps the quintessential example.  For America to have any credibility as a voice for democratic reform we simply must adhere to the universal values that we regularly trumpet -- even when the results don't turn out in our favor.

Today in Moscow that is precisely what Barack Obama did.

TrackBack

TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.typepad.com/services/trackback/6a00d83451c04d69e2011570df55a9970c

Listed below are links to weblogs that reference A Great Day for American Foreign Policy:

Comments

Thank you very much. I am wonderring if I can share your article in the bookmarks of society,Then more friends can talk about this problem.

These words literally made me light-headed. Thank you very much.


___________________
Julie
"HURRY! Offer Extended by Popular Demand.7Days Left! Call Now!"

I’m only visiting to say that I truly enjoyed reading

this post, it’s really well written. Are you going to blog more on this?

I have the same belief with you.Thanks for your sharing.

Great articles. I couldn't agree more.

Great comments! You are so nice, man! You never know how much i like'em!

Yes, that's cool. The device is amazing! Waiting for your next one!

Hi,
Twenty years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, America has entered a new era of ethnicity and foreign policy, whose contours are only just now emerging....

These words literally made me light-headed. The first part of what the President said is sort of boilerplate: we won't impose democracy or our system of government on another country, yada-yada, even when we do. But the second part is what we in the business call, walking the walk.
seslisohbet
seslichat

Are you fighting in Final Fantasy XIV for FFXIV Gil or Final Fantasy XIV Gil?
Can you suffer yourself being called newbie in FFXIV Gil game?
Are you seeking unofficial Buy FFXIV Gil cheats or Final Fantasy XIV guides in order to make Final Fantasy XIV Gil faster?
Can you get millions of Cheap FFXIV Gil in one day?
Even if you know how to farm Buy Final Fantasy XIV Gil you have to prepare enough Final Fantasy XIV Power Leveling first to buy height class Final Fantasy XIV Items, to upgrade your Final Fantasy XIV characters.
Buy aika gold
Then why not Buy FFXIV Gil from us?
In Final Fantasy XIV it's the fastest way FF14 Gil,for you to get rich. We are online 24 hours a day ready and 7 days one week to power up your FFXIV Gil accounts with FFXIV Gil. Here is the best place for the Final Fantasy XIV Online players to buy your Final Fantasy XIV Gil.
We are the professional website in FFXIV GIL sale.FFXIV GIL here,We are professional FFXIV Power Leveling online. We update price every single day to make sure we are the lowest in the market.(we don't compare price with scam sites which uses unbelievable low price to deceive.)
Our slogan:Cheapest price, Fastest delivery, Best service!

Cheap aika gold
In the 2 years we are in this field , AIKA Goldbuilt many business with tens of thousands of customers. They are very satisfied with our service.So if you want to get a log of Cheap FFXIV Gil ,no doubt ,come to our website to buy. Our customer service is ready for you on line now!(GM MMO)

The comments to this entry are closed.

Subscribe
Sign-up to receive a weekly digest of the latest posts from Democracy Arsenal.
Email: 
Powered by TypePad

Disclaimer

The opinions voiced on Democracy Arsenal are those of the individual authors and do not represent the views of any other organization or institution with which any author may be affiliated.
Read Terms of Use