Saturday, February 26, 2005
Birth of an idealist….
I have always considered myself to be someone who straddles the line between idealism and realism in foreign policy. But a quick review of my blog would show anyone that I am shifting to idealism.
I will not accept German Idealism in its pure philosophic form, but I was highly persuaded by Fukuyama’s book “The End of History and the Last Man”. Since my reading of that book, my position has been that democracy is not inevitable, but that it is sustainable and self-generating. I will not dig down into this complex issue here, but to say that I always thought that the U.S. really could not do much to affect a democratic revolution in the world, no matter how beneficial that would be. My opinion is changing.
The cause: events. Afghanistan is a democracy. Iraq is a democracy. They both are on their way to stability. Most importantly Lebanon is pushing for a democracy because they see that the Iraqi’s have one. Democracy is spreading, and we are the agent of change.
This is a chaotic and dangerous process. Some prudence is vital, not prudence in the philosophical Conservative sense, but prudence in the pragmatic sense. There will be no invading China anytime soon, but the Mullahs of Iran should be nervous. In one instance we will use openness and the free-market, in the other coercion. This is pragmatism.
The democratizing storm that the world is caught in is dangerous and can blow in many different directions. But as the President said years ago, there is an angel in the whirlwind.
I will not accept German Idealism in its pure philosophic form, but I was highly persuaded by Fukuyama’s book “The End of History and the Last Man”. Since my reading of that book, my position has been that democracy is not inevitable, but that it is sustainable and self-generating. I will not dig down into this complex issue here, but to say that I always thought that the U.S. really could not do much to affect a democratic revolution in the world, no matter how beneficial that would be. My opinion is changing.
The cause: events. Afghanistan is a democracy. Iraq is a democracy. They both are on their way to stability. Most importantly Lebanon is pushing for a democracy because they see that the Iraqi’s have one. Democracy is spreading, and we are the agent of change.
This is a chaotic and dangerous process. Some prudence is vital, not prudence in the philosophical Conservative sense, but prudence in the pragmatic sense. There will be no invading China anytime soon, but the Mullahs of Iran should be nervous. In one instance we will use openness and the free-market, in the other coercion. This is pragmatism.
The democratizing storm that the world is caught in is dangerous and can blow in many different directions. But as the President said years ago, there is an angel in the whirlwind.
