Should the United States Promote Democracy Abroad?
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The question to be addressed herein is whether or not the United States should promote democratization in countries that have not previously experienced democracy, and the related issue of whether this kind of intervention in the affairs of an autonomous nation-state are appropriate. In 1982, former President Ronald Reagan wrote that "Freedom is not the sole prerogative of a lucky few, but the inalienable and universal right of all human beings" (Evans, 1). Since that time, all American presidents have incorporated the idea of democracy promotion into their foreign policy agenda, with varying degrees of success (Ivins, 2). The argument to be advanced herein is that promotion of democratic institutions and processes is a desirable activity, but for democracy to succeed in taking root, a country and its people must embrace it and adapt many of its institutions to their indigenous culture. Consequently, the American model of a democratic republic may not necessarily be replicable in all instances. According to Paula Dobriansky (1), the Undersecretary of State for Global Affairs, promoting democracy is a key component of the U.S. national security strategy, which calls for "the rule of law, limits on the absolute power of the state, free speech, freedom of worship, equal justice, respect for women, religious and ethnic tolerance, and respect for private property." These are the key components subsumed within the American concept of democracy. Such components are not
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ular law. Very few Muslim countries have democratically elected governments, with limits placed on the actual activities of these governments in countries such as Kuwait, Egypt, Turkey, and so forth. Many of the Muslim countries continue to function under the rule of hereditary monarchies while others have representative national assemblies with limited powers. In Kuwait, for example, the Majlis, or National Assembly, is democratically elected but can be dismissed at the will of the emir.
It is also worth noting that in Gaza, when municipal elections were held, Hamas scored with voters despite the fact that it is labeled by the West as a terrorist organization (Suarez, 1). In Lebanon, Hezbollah, another group labeled as a terrorist organization, has done well in parliamentary elections (Suarez, 1). What this suggests is that simply holding free and open elections does not guarantee that the resulting government will be democratic in terms of other rights such as freedom of speech and religious tolerance.
Spencer Ackerman (1) makes the case that while a foreign policy doctrine is developed to promote the interests of the country promoting the policy, any policy that puts democracy promotion at its center is likely to r
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Approximate Word count = 1232
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page)
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