The Democratic Piece

According to the Peter Baker’s article “As Democracy Push Falters, Bush Feels Like a ‘Dissident’” in the Washington Post, Bush’s democracy promotion efforts have been hampered by the ole’ Washington bureaucracy. The first six paragraphs of Baker’s article set up the argument that Bush’s plan to “spread democracy around the world… has [been] bogged down in a bureaucratic and geopolitical morass.” Baker states that officials within the administration, including Cheney have “undermined” the president’s “grand project.” He describes the crux of the problem as translating “vision” into “thorny policy.” In conclusion, democracy promotion is tainted by its association with the Bush administration he suggests, citing a Republican presidential candidate’s response to whether he agreed with Bush’s vision: “Absolutely not, because I don’t think we can force people to accept our way of life, our way of government.”

Of course, democracy promotion has very little to do with forcing anyone to accept our way of life or our way of government. If it were, democracy promotion would be called democracy compulsion and that is not what it is or what it was meant to be. In fact, the above quotation has little to do with democracy promotion and a lot to do with regime change and the U.S.’s experiences in Iraq. But regime change is not democracy promotion, so let’s not help our friends in the Kremlin, other autocrats, and aspiring autocrats by perpetuating a myth that suggests otherwise.

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The journal of Foreign Affairs has been running a series of articles from the various major presidential candidates from both parties. The articles have been presented as an opportunity for the candidates to present their view of the world and what each of them believe should be the priorities of the next president. The last issue (July/August 2007) included essays from Mitt Romney and Barak Obama. I haven’t had a chance to read them yet, but I will in the coming weeks and include my take on their stance on democracy promotion. The current issue (September/October 2007) includes essay from Rudolph Giuliani and John Edwards. I will also follow up with my thoughts on Edward’s piece later this week, but I feel pretty compelled to take up Giuliani’s essay now given that it has gotten so much attention – both positive and negative.

First off, I will limit my commentary to the portion of his essay that deal with democracy promotion. I have a lot of additional opinions about his overall world view, but I don’t think they are relevant to this forum which focuses on democratization, US foreign policy, and democracy promotion.

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Congress Passes Lantos, Wolf Legislation to Promote Democracy, Human Rights Abroad

Congress has passed legislation co-authored by Congressman Tom Lantos (D-CA), chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, and Congressman Frank Wolf (R-VA) to strengthen and secure America’s commitment to the expansion of freedom and the protection of human rights around the world. The legislation passed by the House today (H.R. 1) and the Senate last night, which implements the remaining recommendations of the 9-11 Commission, also includes provisions of the ADVANCE Democracy Act of 2007. This bipartisan, bicameral legislation was co-authored by Lantos and Wolf in the House and Senators Joseph Lieberman (I/D-CT) and John McCain (R-AZ) in the Senate. “Promoting democracy and protecting human rights are core aspects of the American moral compass, and these aims are crucial to our national security interest,” Lantos said. “With this legislation, we take another step toward ensuring that we focus on the long-term, difficult work of fostering budding democracies and those who support them around the world.”The ADVANCE Democracy Act requires the State Department to develop new, written strategies for the promotion of democracy in all countries that are currently non-democratic or transitioning to democracy. These strategies will help ensure that America’s democracy promotion efforts are carefully tailored to the unique, long-term challenges presented by each country, and that they are focused on more than just holding elections, but on building democratic institutions and fostering democratic values.

Read the full press release here.

The MCC, one of President Bush’s key foreign aid initiatives, is facing severe budget cuts from Congressional appropriators.   Although the president requested $3 billion for the fund for FY2008, the Senate markup of the FY2008 State-Foreign Operations Appropriations bill left the MCC with $1.2 billion.  House appropriators had cut it to $1.8 billion.  The fund, which operates under the apparently innovative principle that “aid is most effective when it reinforces good governance, economic freedom and investments in people,” has had its critics since its inception, but defenders claim it needs “time and money” to prove itself. As a budget fight, even one over foreign aid, the MCC budget isn’t too hot a topic. However, one of the more interesting tactics used by MCC defenders is linking of U.S. foreign aid cuts to the foreign policy of rising “star” (as Lou Dobbs likes to jingoize it) China, which “is making inroads in Africa and the rest of the developing world by offering funding in return for resources like oil and minerals to feed its rapidly growing economy.”  The budget issue is unlikely to be resolved until the fall.

In testimony given today before the House Subcommittee on International Organizations, Human Rights, and Oversight, Freedom House Executive Director, Jennifer Windsor, criticized the United States’ track record of promoting democracy and human rights in its bilateral relations with other states, citing Azerbaijan, Cuba, and Egypt as examples.  From a Freedom House press release:

“The U.S. should never retreat from its role as a defender of human rights, one whose support struggling democratic activists around the globe have looked to for decades,” said Ms. Windsor. “While adherence to democratic principles and respect for human rights cannot always be the sole foreign policy consideration for the U.S. in its bilateral relations, they can and should always be a key element of U.S. relations with all countries. The U.S. should demonstrate a preference for democracy whenever it can.”

Windsor’s comments come in light of remarks President Bush made this week in support of his good friend, Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, calling him a partner in the promotion of democracy.  Pervez, a military general who took power in 1999 as a result of a coup, has been a consistent recipient of praise and support from President Bush for his cooperation with America’s global war on terror.  Unfortunately for America’s credibility abroad, he has also been a consistent autocrat, who has made no serious attempt to bring about a return of democratic government in his country.

Windsor’s comments bring this serious disjuncture between rhetoric and policy into clear focus, as she points out a continuous lack of commitment to promoting democracy and human rights that is manifested in our foreign policy stances on Azerbaijan, Cuba, and Egypt - three countries in which security, economic, or ideological interests have caused us to look the other way. 

 In words reminiscent of President Bush describing America’s commitment to freedom in his second inaugural address, Jennifor Windsor extolls policymakers to renew their commitment to that noble ideal, which has been cheapened by America’s recent inconsistencies in applying it:

“In our dealings with foreign governments and their citizens, we should never allow our core values of human rights and democracy to fall off the table. Instead of ignoring this commitment because it appears to be too difficult, we should renew our efforts and consider new and innovative ways to help those who need it most.” 

A little late to be posting it here, but the State Department recently released its Trafficking in Persons report. Among the highlights: Forced Child Labor, Child Soldiers, Supply and Demand, and, of course, Involuntary Domestic Servitude in Diplomatic Residences. Of course, there’s more! The full report is available online here. Perfect summer reading.

Our colleague Jennifer Hollinger is spending the summer working with trafficked women in Albania, and will certainly post about her experiences when she returns. In the meantime, you can follow her blog at The Advocacy Project.

Also, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor Jeffrey Krilla is answering questions about the President’s Freedom Agenda online.

As I’ve noted recently on the Democratic Piece, there has been increasing unrest in Iran in response to the implementation of gas rationing this week. I’ve been trying to read as much as I can on the topic, and luckily Andrew Sullivan posted his thoughts today and linked some interesting Iranian blogs and some great photos.

Andrew and some other commentators I’ve seen have been attempting to read into this event and perhaps forecast the “crack up” of the Iranian regime. While I think this is definitely an important event that should be followed with much interest by the world, I think the prognostications of the Iranian theorcratic-authoritarian regime are premature.

A lot the analysis conflates the Iranian government too much with the Ahmadinejad administration. Too often we look at all non-democratic regimes as being identical black boxes with no distinguishing features. Iran = Iraq = Zimbabwe = North Korea. As someone who studies authoritarian regimes and the factors which contribute to their demise and resiliency, I think this is a major mistake in a lot of the armchair analysis and journalistic coverage. The way in which a regime is constituted and operates is extremely important when examining events and trends and attempting to forecast their impact on a regime. Continue Reading »

 Greg Lebedev’s editorial in yesterday’s Washington Times urges us to do just that.  As chairman of the Center for International Private Enterprise, one of the four chief recipients of grants from the National Endowment for Democracy, Lebedev is in a unique position to comment on the Bush Administration’s democracy promotion agenda. 

While I’m not sure I agree with Lebedev’s predictions that an extreme backlash to the failures of Bush’s freedom agenda is on the horizon that could result in closing the doors on US democracy promotion efforts, it’s hard to disagree with his assertion that our failure in Iraq and other highly “conspicuous” foreign policy failures will lead to a major retooling of US foreign policy, including democracy promotion, in the near future.  My hope is that our policymakers will see the continued value in promoting freedom around the world, even in the face of such glaring failures, but in the meantime, “Don’t Give Up on Democracy!”

From: “Zainab Al-Suwaij” <zainab@aicongress.org>
Date: May 12, 2007 12:24:46 AM EDT
To: “Zainab Al-Suwaij” <zainab@aicongress.org>
Subject: Dr.Haleh Esfandiri’s Campaign

Dear Friends:

As many of you know, Dr. Haleh Esfandiari was arrested on Tuesday in Tehran and is currently being held in Evin Prison. I am writing to you to ask you to join our campaign to free Haleh.

First, here is some basic background on what happened:

Haleh goes to Iran twice a year to visit her mother, who is now 93. Her latest trip was in December.

According to the Wilson Center, on December 30, 2006, Haleh was in Iran heading to the airport to return to the US. Masked gunmen ambushed her taxi and stole her luggage, including her Iranian and American passports. When Haleh went to replace her passport, she was interrogated at the Intelligence Ministry. For four months she was held under house arrest. On May 8, security forces took her away to Evin Prison where she remains today, though she has not been formally charged with any crime.

The “Free Haleh” campaign has been initiated by the American Islamic Congress in conjunction with Ibn Khaldoun Center in Cairo, the Initiative for Inclusive Security in Washington, and the Kuwaiti Economic Society.

Our appeal is to the Iranian government: Please correct the mistake made by the security forces and release Haleh.

You can read all about Haleh’s case and our campaign at the site www.FreeHaleh.org. We will continue to post updates to the site.

More importantly, we have set up a special online letter writing campaign on Haleh’s behalf. Go to: http://campaigns.aicongress.org/haleh. You can edit a draft letter to Iranian leaders. Then sign your name and submit the letter. An email will be sent, and your name will be added to a list of people taking action. It’s a combined petition/letter-writing campaign.

You can also spread the word to your friends and colleagues. You can either forward this email or use this form: http://campaigns.aicongress.org/haleh/forward .

Thank you for your attention and for adding your voice. Haleh has done so much for us and now we need to step up to help her.

Ma’asalama,

Zainab

–
Ms. Zainab Al-Suwaij
Executive Director
American Islamic Congress
www.aicongress.org

It is finals season for us over here at the Democratic Piece, so content may be a bit light over the next week or two.

As I procrastinated tonight and avoided working on my final papers, I stumbled across this three piece Washington Post article series about democracy promotion from 2005. I originally missed this piece, so as they say on NBC during reruns “If you haven’t seen it, it’s new to you!”

This piece, a Pulitzer Prize winner in 2006, gives a pretty good introduction to the field of democracy promotion. Granted democracy promotion is a niche field, but I get a blank stare every time I tell my family, friends and acquaintances what I am studying and what I want to do with my life. Democracy promotion really is a misunderstood and under appreciated part of US foreign policy.

While there are some nit-picky issues I would raise about the article, I think it does a good job of providing both a micro and macro view of the field. The article provides a glimpse into the daily life, mindset and experiences of those working on the ground, especially in countries that are at times hostile to the idea of democracy. Furthermore, Finkel’s piece, perhaps inadvertently, gives some context to some important issues that define the field: Continue Reading »