Crusading for democracy

Kingdom of Heaven is presently showing in the cinemas of the world. This latest epic film seeks to revive the brutal battles that Christians and Muslims fought centuries ago in the name of religion. These battles are far from over; the good are still trying to overcome the bad. The fountain for inspiration today is no longer provided by religion. It is being replaced by democracy.

The latest round of aggression was supposedly inspired by a sense of duty, to eliminate weapons of mass destruction. Once these remained unfound, the justification became the elimination of tyrants. For this new crusade to be credible it has to be global and not just focused on the Arab world. A noble cause indeed.

September 11 had convinced US policymakers that the lack of democracy in the region radicalised Islamic movements by denying them peaceful channels of expression. According to Freedom House, Arab countries are "less free" today then they were 25 years ago and there is not one of these countries among the 121 nations it considers as electoral democracies.

It had also become evident that pro-American autocratic governments, such as the Saudi Arabian and Egyptian ones, could no longer serve as a bulwark against radical Islam. And the Americans needed a new, grabbing raison d'etre for their actions and continued presence in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Bush administration towards the end of its first term had decided to push the export of democracy to the world stage and officially declared that "... democracy is right and true for every person, in every society". Was this part of what Francis Fukuyama in his controversial article entitled The End Of History (1989) had predicted? Was this really the ultimate triumph of neo-liberal thought, the end point of humanity's ideological and economic evolution?

US policymakers formulated a new master plan, The Greater Middle East Initiative, as to how to push for political reform. Inevitably, economic aid was to become conditional to compliance with this plan. The Arab leaders had not been informed about this plan which was leaked to the press. They were outraged. President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt stated in no uncertain terms foreign that interference in internal matters was not acceptable.

The Arab League, in its May 2004 meeting in Tunis, affirmed a ".... commitment to the humanitarian principles and noble values of human rights... to the re-enforcement of freedom of expression, thought and belief". The leaders of the G8 countries met a month later in Sea Island, Georgia and declared it was up to each society to reach its own conclusions about the pace and scope of change and that "... change should and cannot be imposed from outside". Their Arab friends were appeased.

The death of Yasser Arafat had been projected as paving the way for democratic elections in the Palestinian territories. The impressive turnout of Iraqis to vote in last January's election was hailed as a significant milestone for the Bush democracy promotion agenda. There was talk about Iraq helping to jumpstart, through a "domino effect", the democratisation of the whole Arab world. Then, a popular uprising in Lebanon led to the withdrawal of all Syrian military forces.

Critics of the Bush administration play down these developments. Iraq borders on sheer anarchy, presents a security vacuum, which since the famous "mission accomplished" stated by the President two years ago, has cost America the lives of 1,400 soldiers and $200 billion in taxpayers money. And in the meantime, the world is paying dearly for its crude oil requirements enriching a few governments and businessmen.

Were these just coincidences, home-grown outbreaks of people power or is the pro-democracy drive of the US having an effect? Or is it maybe a combination of both?

American intervention in such a sensitive field calls for consistency and will be severely tested in many other countries including China, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.

True enough, George Bush, while in Moscow for the Victory Day celebrations, made it a point to meet human rights and media freedom activists and promised his support for their efforts to build a "civil society" and democracy in Russia.

On first taking office in 2001, President Bush embarked on reviving the Star Wars programme. Soon after this he had to give way to the war on terrorism. Now it is a strategy for democracy.

This last war has all the elements of a justifiable crusade. Let us hope it succeeds. One little doubt remains. Really good guys rarely threaten to use force however well this is dressed up. New-born Christians should know better: "... all who draw the sword, will die by the sword".